Total Drama Revenge of the ForeverMine
by acelaces
Summary: Eight teenage campers. Seven dangerous beasts. Six billion dollars. Five days. Four deciders of their fates. Three hideous lies. Two chances to make things right. One abandoned mine. Zero escape. Or is there? ;D Love, hate, angst, deception, magic, teamwork, sabotage, confession- and death. And shipping. Alot of shipping.
1. Sitting on a Goldmine

(A/N: Acelaces:

My first fanfic, inspired by a love of this season of TDROTI, which I do not own. I hope the writing's okay, I know Kez if you're reading this you're counting my errors, if I made anny.

**WARNINGS**

*This fic will spoil every single episode up to and including episode 7.

*This fic will switch POV alot. I aim to develoup basically all of these eight characters so even if one chapter focuses on only about three or four characters don't worry because I've got plans for everyone.

*This fic does not seek to target any character with hate.

*There may be some small-time cussing in it.

*This fic will not have any sex :[ but there might be innuendo ;D

*The ships that may be explored will definitely include Jo/Brick (Jock), Zoey/Mike (Zike), Anne Maria/Vito (Anito). There may be others but I'm not spoiling for now.

This story takes place towards the end of episode 7: A Mine is a Terrible Thing to Waste. Our campers are trapped in the mine after someone triggers a cave-in. Will they be trapped in there forever? Will Chris take his new prank too far? Will they fall apart or will they be forged together stronger than ever as a result of the struggle? You know, kind of like when a cake gets all broken up but you use the icing to patch it up together again.

Zoey: I have to do that all the time, I'm a pretty lousy cake maker I guess..

Mike: No way, it just means the cake's that much sweeter when you make it! - uh- I mean- because of the extra icing

Zoey: Really? That's so sweet of you to say!

Anne Maria: Ugh..I think I'm getting a toothache over here.

Acelaces: *ahem*

**So**

this is chapter one, of my seven-chaptered story. I chose seven because it's like the most important number

Jo: No way, One is the most important number. It's #1 in my books.

*crickets chirp*

Jo:What?

Acelaces: nothing, it's just not much of a surprise .

Jo: Who wouldn't love one? 1 stands on its own, it's balanced so no one can push it over. It faces clearly in one direction without leaning all the way and putting its neck on the line like 7. It doesn't have anything to hide behind its back like 4, so it's not weighed down, it's not sitting on it's butt like 8, or being so easily bent out of shape like 5 - not even knowing which way to face.

Mike: What about three?

Jo: hmm...three's too protective, always trying to hold onto something. Not a big fan of 3.

Brick: What about two?

Jo: Two's on its knees, can't you tell? 2 two _kneels_ before 1. I like 2, two knows his place.

Brick: You're not talking about numbers at all, are you..

Lightning: WAIT A MINUTE! Lightnin' thought one came before two! Lightnin' could check again, Lightnin' aint so sure...

Jo: *sigh*

Cameron: What about six?

Jo:Don't know what to make of six, it's too curled up into itself, can't tell what it's up to, plus it's got that spike.

Scott: It could be asleep.

Lightning: NUMBERS CAN'T SLEEP!

Acelaces: guys, let's please just get to the story.

* * *

><p>Chris woke up from his late o' clock beauty sleep to the sound of his ringtone on full volume. He shot out of bed, hair disheveled and with his satin eyemask skewed andjammed his finger on the green button.<p>

It was his least favourite wannabe celebrity showoff showhost- Blainley.

"Hey Chris, how's it going hosting the second most popular reality TV show this side of Ontario?" her mouth slavered over the word second like an overpriced bonbon. "Shouldn't I be the one asking you that question, if it even _was_ you that came up with the _brilliant_ idea to make 'Special Olympic Wipeout Hour.'"

"Mmm, no, I scrapped that." she replied, "Nope, you're talking to the newest host of Prank'd."

Chris nearly dropped the phone. How did she get her hands on that cash cow?

"Last weeks Bar-B-Que pit prank went wrong, turns out petting zoos don't go well with sevent foot flames- and neither does former host Blake Jakeman's patent leather jacket." she said, as if she'd read his last thought.  
>"Is there any reason you called, Blainley? Like, <em>besides<em> gloating?" Chris asked

"Aww, but it's so fun." He could almost see her smug smirk. "Come on Chris, even with your beady little eyes you must've noticed the 63% drop in ratings your show got once it dropped its original cast!" For a split second Chris wondered if he was having a dream, no, this had to be a nightmare, the scariest kind of nightmare- like triple lawsuit scary.

"No way! Where'd you get those numbers, Mildread?" he put a slow deliberate emphasis on his rival's real name. He cheered up a bit when he heard her growl of rage, but she steadied herself and replied in a cool tone

"Take a look at page 6 of **LOOK** magazine." Chris quickly snatched up the glossy mag that one of the interns left at the foot of his bed, (along with his breakfast on a fine bamboo tray). After scanning the page for a second or two his eyes widened in horror.

"Wow, even I couldn't have hoped you'd be this surprised" she cooed, her voice was smooth, like poisoned honey as she drew out the tension a few more seconds.  
>"What do you want?" Chris spoke out the words through gritted teeth, trying not to make it sound like he was asking for a lifeline.<br>"I just thought, being the magnanimous soul I am," she ignored his scoff "I just thought you'd like some... assistance."

"Just spit it out already!"  
>"Here's the deal MacLean- I've got a prank show without no losers to prank, you've got a bunch of losers..." Chris' hand gripped the phone so hard his knuckles blanched, but his mental turmoil blocked the pain from reaching him. "What do you say Chris? I give your show the silver bullet- let it go out with a bang instead of a whimper, together we could make... millions."<br>"Millions?" Chris thought.

"Maybe even a **billion**, we'd have to split it 60/40 of course but I-"

The nightstand quaked with the force with which Chris slammed the phone into the receiver.

"Hello? Hello? Dammit MacLean!" Blainley shouted to no one as she flipped her cellphone shut. Just then she got another call.  
>"Is he in?" the deep voice asked.<p>

"No, he's having a little diva moment, it was the 60/40 bit that got him. He didn't even know his show was going down the tubes." said Blainley, scowling.

"Give him time," replied the voice, "He'll say yes."  
>Somewhere a very pissed-off Chris McLean was clenching his fists in anger while he set out to call on that day's challenge. He didn't even touch his breakfast or practice his award acceptance speech that morning, he was so full of rage and... was it... fear?<p>

* * *

><p><strong>CAMERON<strong>

* * *

><p>After all that crashing sound you would think I'd welcome the long silence that followed the cave in. But my ears were full of neither the echoes of the downwards crashing of cave walls nor Zoey's cry or Anne Maria's shrill shrieking. Nope, the only thing that I could hear was the question that repeated in my head: "Is this what guilt tastes like?"<p>

Yes, I was pretty sure this was all my fault-  
>"Nice going String Bean!" came Jo's voice, and I felt her glare through the semi-darkness of the cave.<br>"Aw Cameron, what did you do?" chimed Zoey -as if I needed reminding..

Then I heard Mike under his most recently demonstrated personality

"Ay, no problem, mates, this must've happened to me a million times when traversing the vast caverns of-" but we didn't get to benefit from any of his advice as just then a large rock landed on his head, knocking him out cold, the hat landing a few metres away.

"Mike!" Zoey cried, running to him and scooping him up off the floor by his shoulders.

Meanwhile Anne Maria stood with her hands above her head looking at the ceiling with concern as if the whole cavern roof had conspired to pummelling her precious pouf.  
>"Nothing's gonna fall on you, <em>Spraytan<em>, You're under the skylight!" Jo shouted across the room, rolling her eyes.  
>The rest of them looked up, noticing that the light that they could see by filtered in through a fairly large hole in the roof.<br>"That must have opened up when I-"  
>"Yes we've already established that <em>you<em> did this, Egghead, how do you propose we _undo_ it?" said Jo, stepping forward and gesticulating at the pile of large rocks that was now blocking the exit of the mine they were now trapped in.

"Mmmm," groaned Mike as he rubbed his head, "What... happened?"

Scott's voice was heard as he ambled in from some unknown tunnel.

"We'd jumped out of the carts and were on our way out when _bubble boy_ here saw a butterfly and went all spazzy- tried to reach it by climbing onto that pillar of rocks, but tripped and brought the whole thing down with him, some of 'em fell onto our bomb backpacks and," he gestured vaguely towards the mess of rocks that blocked their way out, "here we are."

The bubble boy wanted to defend himself but he remembered how his heart had lit up when he saw it, Dineaus Plexipus, the Monarch Butterfly. He remembered how he had sat in his bubble a long time ago he was a small and awkward kid with glasses too big for his face back then, six weeks ago. He'd spend his days pouring over his favourite book, The Amazing Animal Kingdom, gently touching each picture, imagining textures he'd never be able to feel, warm, many-dimensional things- not like his sterilized linen sheets. One such day he was standing atop a stack of his books (a very risky activity his mother would not approve of) to get a good look out the window at the neighbourhood kids, healthy, sturdy kids playing hide and seek, a game he could define, describe and explain word for word, but that he could never really understand. he remembered watching them laugh, barely hearing the cheerful sound over the dull hum of the air filtration system his mum had installed in his bubble.  
>Just then something came in quickly through the window. It was red and bright and it flew so beautifully. Here I was wishing I could go outside, and here was a butterfly, an outside thing -my mum had often used the word <em>'outside'<em> this way, as if it were a label for all things forbidden- yes an outside thing was coming in, was coming to _me_.  
>It landed soundlessly onto the side of my bubble and I touched the plastic at the place where it sat, leisurely opening and closing its wings. I longed to touch those wings, I would be very careful, I knew what it was to be delicate, to be looked at from outside like a thing to be pitied or cooed at or protected, and never admired, never to be appreciated for something I'd done all by myself, but until I'd signed up for Total Drama, I'd never done anything by himself, I'd already made it through the Mad Skills Obstacle Course and raised my voice to two entangled teenagers, and I really thought I'd finally have the chance to prove to everyone that I could win this thing, just with my mind, that just like Dineas Plexipus, I could use those delicate wings to fly. That's what I had thought, but now it was over, I had failed, there was no way I could make it up to my fellow campers. In their eyes I figured I'd just gone from competant competitor to clumsy kid.<p>

"No way Lightnin's gonna lose to those losers just because of some stupid pile of rocks!" said Lightning as he charged towards the mountain of stones and began to push, and then pull, and then push on them.

"Man, these things must be glued together or somethin!" said Lightning, defenisvely, "Chris better not be tryin to make Lightnin' look bad!" he panted, still trying to push the rocks.

Lightning's persistent (though ill-conceived) optimism gave me a spark of hope. It wasn't over yet, we could still get out! If it wasn't a job for dumb muscle, then surely brainpower could save the day!  
>"I've got an idea!" I said, they all turned to look at him, except for Zoey and Mike who seemed a bit distracted.<p>

"Let's hear it, Pipsqueak" said Jo, crossing her arms. "How about we use one of those shovels," I gestured towards the shovels in the mine carts "to lift the rocks out by using leverage- you know, like a seesaw."

"In case you haven't noticed, doofus," came Scott's voice coolly from the corner of the cave "these rocks are alot heavier than some 5 year old on a teeter totter."

"Well... yes, we'll need a pretty big force, but by my calculations it's quite possible."  
>"We could all push on it at the same time, spoke Brick, who I noticed, like Anne Maria (who had pulled their team's Golden Chris out of her hair), had opted to stand in the pool of light in the middle of the cave.<p>

"You might just be onto something, Stringbean." Jo looked a mite impressed and I felt a surge of hope run trhough me.

"Lanky, go get one of those shovels!" yelled Jo over to Mike who was nearest the cart.  
>But from the looks of it Mike wouldn't've heard her if she'd shouted into Chris'megaphone, I doubted he could hear anything above his heartbeat, he'd just realized that Zoey had been holding him up and now the two sat gazing at eachother, I could almost hear harp music playing.<p>

"OI! Deaf and deafer!" yelled Jo in a voice that would've broken harpstrings, "Don't make me pull out my whistle.."  
>"I'm on it!" said Brick as he marched over to the cart and returned with a very rusty shovel. "What now, Jo?"<p>

"Hitch it under that rock- no- no, that great big one over there, the one that looks like Stringbean's head."  
>With a grunt of effort Brick wedged the shovel in place.<p>

"Let's DO this!" shouted Jo, jogging forwards, but noticing no one was following her she stopped and cast a wide glance across the cave. Zoey was now brushing dirt off Mike's messy hair while he laughed nervously and blushed. Lightning was still in the corner, ramming himself against the wall of rock as if he was tackling a football dummy. ("Sha- Bam!",Sha-Boom!","Sha-BUDGE ALREADY!"). Anne Maria, still clutching that huge diamond that Ezekiel had presented her, was spraying her hair- when she noticed Jo looking at her she held her hands up defensively

"Uh-uh, no way am I gonna chip a nail movin' some dumb rocks, You see these?" she indicated her glossy nailpolish job "These babies are why I open doors with my elbows."  
>Jo sighed. I noticed she did not even bother looking at me. I was nothing short of relieved as the use she usually put me to in challenges involved being thrown like a javelin, I remembered too well my last injuries. Jo walked over to Brick.<p>

"Guess it's just you and me, Brickhouse, just try to keep up." and with that she grabbed the handle, taking hold over his hands.

"In your dreams, I dug the mudpit for the obstacle course every morning back at Bootcamp."  
>Something told me this was going to be another Jock-off.<br>"On my count, cadet." said Jo, Brick nodded.

"One... two... three! Go!Go!Go!" she shouted as they pushed down on the handle so hard that Jo's knuckles turned white, and Brick's became bright red with the added pressure of Jo's hands on his, their shoulders were jammed hard against eachother, their faces screwed up in concentration. Brick's face was flushed, because of all the exertion of course.  
>But even these two were eventually exhausted, by that time the others were bored of watching, but I was marvelling at how long they lasted and even more at how the rocks had not budged an inch- it was if they had been there for four thousand years!<br>Brick sat down, rubbing his sore hands. I started "It doesn't make sense, my calculations-"

"-Were wrong," finished Jo, who had begun pacing back and forth along the length of the wall of rubble, "but even the strongest wall has a weakpoint...any idea where it is ScienceHead?" Jo looked to Cameron.

"Well... if I observe correctly, there should be one right in the middle, and at the top, where the rock pile isn't being supported by the cave walls."

"So we're gonna need to climb it, huh?" Jo grinned "No problem! I could do it with my eyes shut" Jo and Brick seemed to glance at eachother but then Brick looked doubtfully at his red hands and paused.

He was about to get up when Zoey spoke up "No way, Brick! Give your hands a rest... " He touched his fingers, winced and nodded in resignation.  
>Jo rolled her eyes and began a steady ascent up the rockface.<br>After a short while she called down to them "Here, Stringbean?"

"Uh, a little to your left!"  
>She shifted and called back "Here?"<br>"Uh yes, I mean, that should be it."  
>Jo paused a moment and then drew her head backwards.<p>

"...Is she going to...?" asked Mike "...I think she is!" finished Zoey, eyes wide.

"Wooaah, blondie is crazier than I thought!" said Anne Maria, gawking.

"Don't you worry bout me. I'm a scorpion dojo karate champ, I've been breaking pine boards with my head since I was 7," said Jo "and mahogany boards since I was 15." she added smugly.

Even Lightning quit his role as a human battering ram to cock his head and say "Is he for real?"  
>She hitched her head back and they all closed their eyes.<p>

*WHAM*

-thud-

Oh my Godwin's Law! Jo just hit her head so hard she knocked herself out and fell onto the cave floor! Okay, perhaps I should confirm that thought by opening my eyes, it was just so frightening! What if I saw... I didn't want to think about what I might see..

"You can open your eyes, you guys. I'm fine."

There was Jo, all in one piece but looking pretty pissed off. "Unfortunately, that wall's fine too." They all turned to look at the wall for a while in silence.

Not a stone had budged. Lightning was now on the floor, either alseep or unconscious from repeated (and self-inflicted) blows to the head. They were trapped in this cave, there was no way they could go back and get out the way they came after Lightning had brought down the ceiling there with his victory shout at the start of the challenge, seeing as these rocks were so strangely heavy. The lens of the camera mounted on the wall was smashed and the crackling of the P.A system told me that they had lost contact with the cruel host, Chris, who was now their only lifeline. Almost at the same time their chemical badge Geiger counters beeped, signalling that we were running out of time.

* * *

><p>"Whoa-o-oh! Did you <em>see<em> that?" motioned a grinning Chris towards the plasma screen TV he was using to view the actions of a certain 8 teenagers, with the help of some extra secret hidden cameras courtesy of Daddy Dakota.

Chef nodded and chuckled, his deep voice replied "Sure was a good idea getting the interns to cement those rocks together from the outside. Ya know, when I said they'd probably use their heads to figure a way out, I didn't think they'd use their _actual_ heads." The two laughed some more and Chris wiped a tear of mirth from his eye.

"See? Told ya we wouldn't need Blainley, I can play a wicked awesome prank- on my own."

He smiled smugly, it was wayy too easy, strap the kids to some bogus Geiger counters, shove em in an abandoned mine rigged with cameras and barrels labelled 'toxic' and watch them scramble. Shaving Dakota's head while she slept was a necessary step in convincing them - Oh - and it was fun too. Of course, the deal had been sweetened after that psycho Scott kid had set off the bomb backpacks and triggered a cave-in, which Chris had been all too eager to seal up.

"You know what gets me though?" Chef interupted his happy, sadistic thoughts, "How come they still trust that freckly punk, all he does is set them up to lose, they're blaming the puny kid- you saw."

"Logic, my dear Chef, they don't see the side of Scott that we do in his confessional footage- meh, it's all for the best." Chef arched an eyebrow. "All for our best anyways, ha, more scheming means more drama, more drama means more ratings, more ratings-",

"- means more paycheck." finished Chef "You got one mean mind, MacLean." he added.  
>"I know," replied the host as he played and replayed the footage of Scott setting off one of the bomb backpacks and throwing it at a large pillar of rock as the rest of their team jumped out of the careening cart, Anne Maria with their team's Golden Chris statue still stuck in her hair, racing towards the cave exit. The dynamite blew and a whole slew of rocks collapsed including a stack onto which a very frightened Cameron clung. The carts slammed into a pile of rock instead of flying out the exit, and a small butterfly could be seen escaping through an opening hole in the ceiling as the cave filled with dust. In the temporary darkness the glint of a grin from Scott's corner of the cave was just barely visible. The host leaned back in his chair, "I know."<p>

* * *

><p><strong>LIGHTNING<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Lightnin' is in a cave full of losers!<strong>

After that weak attempt at gettin' past that pile of rocks, Joe asked everyone to turn out their pockets, sayin somethin' about "Somebody has to have something useful for gettin us outta here." Well Lightnin' did not believe the nonsense these punks took into a cave.

Little glasses girl had a jar full of medicine, can't really blame her for that, less damsels in distress the better. Lightnin' can't be rescuein everybody's butt all the time! Lightnin's got his own needs!

Flower girl took out an mp3 player. Uhh last time Lightnin' checked music did not have the power to bring down walls, except the walls of Jericho which they always talkin' about in Sunday school. But Lightnin' digresses.

Weird Voice Guy came next, took out his lucky shark tooth- we don't need your luck in here, fool! Lightnin' doesn't even _believe_ in luck anyway... only mad skill!

Next was Tall Dude, man and all he had was a deck of cards! Lightnin' hopes that guy don't mind eatin them cards, because with the stuff these losers brought along we gonna be in dis cave a lonngg tiiime.

Then it was Orange Girl's turn and she pulled this hair blower outta her hair like it was there the whole time or sumthin'. Joe got all upset and was all "Seriously? What were you gonna plug it into?" Man, Lightnin' has to agree, Lightnin' knew some cheerleaders in summer school smarter than that!

Next up was Army guy. Army guy looked all embarassed and didn't show anything, but Joe said somethin about "Team before Pride" and the poor fool took out a picture of his mom! Lightnin' thinks that's just pathetic. Lightnin' never knew his mom and even if he did he don't think he'd be carryin' around her picture everywhere. Nuh-uh.

Next up was my main man, Joe, he brought along a whistle. Mm-mm, that just aint useful in here, and Lightnin' thought Joe was the only one of them who had any sense, Lightnin' knows now only to trust himself. Lightnin' told everyone how alll along he'd been keepin' two cans of his favourite energy drink around in his pants pockets, that he never went anywhere without 'em. For some reason Scott said somethin about "Oh so _that's_ what that was... we thought you just had a really big butt." Everybody laughed at Lightnin'! But then when Lightnin' took the cans out of his front knee pockets they stopped! Lightnin' didn't get it.  
>"Sha-Voom!" said Lightnin' as he slammed down the cans of Voom for all of them to see. Lightnin's favourite energy drink, y'all know how it goes, "When the goin gets tough..."<br>"Voom gets you going." they finished, everyone knew that radio ad. Lightnin' was feelin so** pumped** he didn't need any of his Voom right now. He just loved hearin' that slogan! Lightnin started a victory lap across the cave, but he ran outta space to run towards the elevator shaft cliff, so he just ran in circles. Lightnin' didn't look back (Lightnin' _never_ looks back!) but he was pretty sure those losers were watchin him in awe.

* * *

><p><strong>BRICK<strong>

* * *

><p>So there we were, all our men accounted for, but trapped in an abandonned mine, a deep, <em>dark<em>, abandoned, _dark_, mine. I wasn't that scared now, with the skylight and all, especially since I knew I could use my secret weapon to fend off anything that came near me, even if the smell off my boot was keeping everyone else a distance away. I was actually pretty grateful to Cameron for that hole in the roof, I couldn't help feeling some loyalty to my old teammate. Plus, the little guy was getting a tough time from Jo, and man did I know what_ that_ was like. I knew I was trying to quit thinking about her but I couldn't stop, I'd gotten so used to racing her to Mess Hall, to comparing the skills I'd gained from the armed forces with her private training, and even to following her leadership without hesitation. Before it was okay, I didn't mind how intense she was or how she was always bossing me around or calling me names- I guess it's like they say: 'you can take the cadet out of bootcamp but you can't take the bootcamp out of the cadet'.

At first I loved her intensity, her drive to win. But winning for her was worth leaving someone behind, and that was something I just couldn't stand by.

It wasn't like I wanted her off my team.. she was probably the strongest girl I'd ever met. I mean I didn't keep my eyes open to see her hit those rocks with her head, but I heard a thud- that must've been her landing on her feet from about seven metres up! You've just _got_ to admire that kind of skill. She had carried the team to victory many times as a leader, and she'd saved me from that deep, dark, _dark_ grave..the least I could do was try to protect her from elimination that day. As a leader she was good at keeping a cool head under pressure. But she had to follow my terms now, because this time I wouldn't be voting off Lightning just because she- I mean, I dunno...has that _effect_ on me. You know... makes me feel like... like I could really run backwards with earplugs... -but sometimes she'd do the opposite and make me get all mixed up! Like when we thumb wrestled -as soon as she grabbed my hand it tensed up, so of course she won that one- she really_ did_ know how to manipulate people. And as if it weren't embarrassing enough to have had an accident in front of my team captain (embarrassing enough to make me run away on my own to dry off, which wasn't the best idea) she just wouldn't let me live it down, kept calling me nicknames like ...Drill Sergeant Drippy. She really thought she was the best thing that ever happened to this season, she thought she was better than me, I knew, she wouldn't even admit she missed me being part of her team! I tried to show her that Brick MacArthur could carry a team on his own last time around, that good old fashioned teamwork could get the win just as well as orders and delegation, that I was nobody's lackey...but even beating her to those skiis in the Gull shooting challenge hadn't given me the satisfaction I thought it would. I didn't know what to do now, because part of me just wanted everything to be back to the way it was before... before, when I thought she was my teammate and my friend. But that was before the first team swap, when Scott told me the truth. Now I knew everything she really thought about me and it really stunk. Maybe even worse than my boots.

* * *

><p><strong>JO<strong>

* * *

><p>I was still pacing I guess, trying to figure out what to do next. How were we still gonna win this thing? If Chris would still accept our team's Golden Chris as it was -broken because Brickhouse decided all of a sudden that he wanted to switch allegiance and betray me- we ,Lightning and I, had formed a, to use his deluded expression "dude's alliance." Of course I didn't exactly enjoy his insistence on referring to me as if I were one of his halfwit jockstrap buddies, up until today if you'd asked me who I'd have voted off it'd have been Lightning in a flash. I didn't want to believe that stuff Scott had informed me of about Brick, seeing as I wasn't sure if I could trust that guy as far as I could throw him (which was pretty far, me being the regional Javelin and Shot Putt champ three years running), but that Jarhead had proven to be exactly the kind of guy you don't need on your team, so it was a neccessary move. Yeah at first he'd been surprisingly yielding, even obedient. Heck, he must've been the first guy to ever admit that I beat him at something. That was when I'd thought he was different than the piles of processed jockmeat I had to deal with back home. At first I thought it was just chivalry; pulling out my chair for me at Mess Hall, letting me beat him at thumb wrestling -typical country boy- but the more I watched him (you've got to keep a close eye on your team, and besides, whenever I noted how strong he was I felt an awesome thrill- the thrill of assured victory no doubt.) the more I watched him the more I realized that not only did he live to follow orders, but he loved it too. And if Sergeant Spill got a charge out of my <em>being<em> in charge, even better for the team. With two obviously skilled players on the same team it's necessary to make sure the rest of them know which one's command is to be followed, and which one's to be ignored.

So everything was going great, and it actually felt like things were looking up and up for the team, I had the perfect support in him, strong but yielding, trusting and moral. This last one worried me just as much as it was endearing. It meant he wouldn't dream of voting me out, and he even offered himself up for elimination that time. I knew my other teammates wanted me gone, just because I'd wanted us to go ahead with the challenge instead of stopping to look for Zoey and Lieutenant Leaks-a-lot. So I'd called him dead weight, I guess I was still pissed at him for bailing on me right after I pulled him outta that panic attack he was having in the pet grave. I was pissed cause of his abandoning his team just because of a little incident of incontinence. You'd think Captain Co-operation would put his team before his pride! Like today when he'd disobeyed my direct command to go save team Maggot, and just when we were getting back into the swing of things after this morning's disagreement. Why the sudden need to try to be my captain? We both knew I was the better leader under pressure, especially in a challenge like this one, in the dark. Did he really mean what he said, that he'd vote me off?

Guys. They really were all alike, why did Freckle face have to be right about this one?

* * *

><p><strong>CAMERON<strong>

* * *

><p>Things seemed to be getting pretty desperate, in the time after the cave in I seemed to forgetabout my nausea. Zoey didn't look too good either... But no one else seemed to be affected, everyone was watching Jo pace in the front of the cave. Anne Maria, I noticed, was actually smiling and holding her huge rock up to the light that was streaming into the cave, watching it reflect on it. She breathed on the side of it and shined it with her sleeve.<p>

"Hey, wait a minute, Anne Maria, can I see that diamond for a minute?"

"You can see it from here, wiseguy, I see what you're tryin' to do. I ain't lettin' go of this thing till I get to the bank!" said Anne Maria, eyeing him suspiciously.

"What's going on, Stringbean, you think we could use it to get out?" said Jo, looking as if she'd try anything at this point.

"No, it's just that I don't think that's a real diamond, Anne." I said.

"**WHAT** did he say? Don't try to tell me this thing's a fake." Anne Maria put her hand into a fist threateningly, but the catch in her voice betrayed that she was already afraid that I was right.

"Well, if it was real it wouldn't fog up when you breathed on it, not even a little bit. Diamonds don't hold heat." I replied, yes now that I was seeing it more closely it had to be.

"But- but I did the scratch test! I used my good fingernails!" cried Anne Maria, clutching the huge rock close to her, which only made it fog up more.

"Even the scratch test can be fooled by high quality Cubic Zirconia." I stated matter-of-factly.

"Hey yeah, plus if this cave had diamonds that big in it you could bet Chris would have given us a _digging_ challenge." added Jo.

"Agh!" shouted Anne in frustration "Where's that pastey little gremlin? He is so gettin a beatdown fuh dis!" she balled her hands into fists and dropped the 'diamond' which made a surprisingly light thud on the floor. She looked at it and facepalmed in exhasperation.

"What? Who're you talking about" asked Jo.

Anne Maria began to tell the tale of her capture by former contestant Ezekiel.

"Hey, Cameron, come over here a minute" I recognized that grating voice, even in a whisper. Scott was calling me over to him, I followed him over to the carts. After some rummaging around he pulled out what appeared to be a souped up ePhone, made out of odds, ends and old parts of an ePhone.

I felt my eyes widen "Where did you get that?" I cried out before he shut my mouth with his hand

"Shhhh, I didn't want to show it in front of the others, but Beverly left this accidentally and I've been keeping it safe for him 'til I see him again. I didn't want to show it to Jo before because... b-because-" Scott covered his face and I heard loud sobs escape from behind his hands, "-because nobody in here trusts me!"

"I dunno Scott, you just come off as a little bit... creepy, I guess," I said, trying not to hurt his feelings even though I really couldn't blame anyone for finding this guy hard to trust. I mean all day today he seemed to be trying to lose us the challenge.

"I just thought that because nobody would believe that I'd kept it for Beverly, they know he didn't like me, maybe-" he sniffed and looked at me, and put his hands on my shoulders as if what he was about to say was of grave importance, "-m-maybe you could say that you'd kept it for him."

I started "What? I didn't even talk to B, Scott I think you should just-"

"Jo would be so glad you had a possible way of communicating with the outside that she wouldn't even notice, heck, she'd probably forget you were the one who got us trapped in here in the first place." Scott wove out the words, it was true, it was true, this way, I'd be back in Jo's good books for good, I'd be the one who saved the day!

"Well sure, Scott!" I almost yelled and I held out my hand for the phone.

But Scott didn't give it to me.

"Not just like that, **Cameron**," I never knew being called by my name for once could feel so strangely unpleasant, "I need to know that once we get out you won't be voting me off."

"Deal." I said, a little too quickly, revealing how eager I was.

"Not today, not ever. And no telling anyone else, either. You got it?"

Why did Scott need my promise especially? Did he think I suspected him of something?

"Sure. Of course. I won't vote for you." I said.

Scott grinned. "Here you go,_ buddy_." he said as he placed the phone in my hand. The emphasis he put on the word 'buddy' made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. If this guy was trying to get people to trust him, he should focus on doing something about that _voice_!

* * *

><p><strong>SCOTT<strong>

* * *

><p>After I got that doofus to show the phone to Jo I made sure of three things:<p>

*I'd get out of this darn cave.

*I wouldn't trigger any more suspicion.

*I'd stopped the only one of my teammates who had a clue about my plan from putting me out of the game for good.

Of course he jumped on the opportunity, he wanted everyone to like him again so much, that's the problem with getting close to people, you set yourself up for some serious pain later on. If I hadn't been so close to my Pappy it wouldn't sting so bad whenever he gave me the ol' one-two. I winced just remembering it. Yep, I'd learned that the hard way, just like I'd learned to hunt kitchen rats, a skill that had turned out to be more useful in this game than I'd thought. Turns out trapping losers is alot like trapping rats.

* * *

><p>It was a very happy Chris that picked up his PDA while replaying the clip of Lightning running around the cave while everyone else watched him with either bemused pity or exasperation. It was a very angry Chris that slammed down his phone, having received the text message that the campers were trapped in the abandoned mine.<p>

"Aaaghhh, how'd they do that? How'd they get my number?"

Of course Cameron had figured out a way to find Chris' number, by logging onto the show's website and tracking the source of the updates.

This ruined everything, now he wouldn't be able to claim that he had no idea they were in there when the inevitable lawsuit came around. He'd have to go down there right now and let them out. And of course this would be the end of his indulgence in the goldmine that was prank show reality TV.

"I never get to have any fun!" he whined, kicking the wall fiercely. After a pause in which Chris fumed, Chef spoke. "Well you could always-"

"No, no there is no way I'm accepting help from that overrated screenhog!" Chris said, shaking his head.

"Don't think about it as accepting help, think about it as using her access to the tools of the trade, tricking her into trusting you with 40% of the earnings, and then manipulating it to pull the rug out from beneath her."

Using, tricking and manipulating just happened to be Chris McLean's favourite pastimes. "Pranking the hostess of pranks with her own prank? I like the way you think, Chef."

"I try." replied Hatchet, shrugging.

The gears that were turning in Chris' head locked into place along with the fates of a certain 8 contestants.

* * *

><p>Acelaces: well there it is you guys, please review with questions, comments etc.<p>

what did you guys think of it?

Lightning: Cool story bro, needs more Lightnin'!

Acelaces:*sigh* nevermind.

this chapter is titled 'sitting on a goldmine' because Chris realizes the cash potential of pranking our campers. Also, it takes place in a mine so...0_0

try to see how many times I put Lightning's name next to words like 'flash' 'strike' or 'charge' :P

there's plenty more to be put up, there will be drama, angst, fun, fights, fear and intrigue. Let's not forget fluff and friendshipping! Don't rush me because I'm a busy busy girl, but for once in my life I WILL finish something!


	2. What's Mine is Mine

WARNING: the beginning of this chapter will switch POV between Zoey and Mike rapidly.

Acelaces: Okay you guys, this chapter might turn out to be pretty

intense, but if you're all good I'm taking you out for ice-cream.

I'm having orange pineapple. What do you guys want?

Zoey: Strawberry, -with sprinkles on top! Please and thank you.

Mike: I'll take a pistachio, -and good idea, put sprinkles

on mine too.

Lightning: Two scoops of peanut, dipped in chopped peanuts.

Lightnin needs his protein! You think Lightnin

should get a waffle cone? Waffles have protein, right?

Mike: Mmm...waffles..

Brick: Nothing beats good-old-fashioned chocolate. -This cadet just wants one scoop, Sir.

Acelaces: What about you, Jo?

Jo: I'll have vanilla. One scoop. Regular cone- and none of those girly dressings on it either.

Mike: -Hey, sprinkles aren't girly!

Jo: Yeah, and neither is ballet,_ Svetlana_.

Anne Maria: You're the one orderin' boring with a side of blah.

Jo: It's vanilla, it was the first flavour to be invented,so it's number one.

Its simple, it gets right to the point and it never misses the

mark. No topping can top it.

Anne Maria: Pfft, none o dat can compare to pineapple gelato.

That stuff's where it's at. It's ice-cream -with class. The next

guy who gets me one o those can take me right to B.E.D!

Jo: Ew! You'd sleep with a guy just because he bought you an ice-

cream cone?

Anne Maria: It's _gelato_, and no, the B.E.D is a nightclub in

Miami. Stands for "Beverage, Entertainment, Dining" See? Classy.

What about you, Red?

Scott: City folk go out and _buy_ ice-cream, my Pappy taught me how

to _make_ it. We used to make rocky road all the time, gimme two scoops of that.

Jo: What'd you use for the rocks, he who hails from the dirtfarm?

Scott: We didn't use dirt! Not all country folk are complete

idiots. Besides the stones could cut your palms up real bad.

Anne Maria: Eww, you eat gelato with your hands?

Scott: It's _ice-cream_.

Acelaces: Chill out you guys, heh. What do you want, Cameron?

Cameron: I've never had an ice-cream before...

*silence*

Acelaces: GET THIS BOY SOME COOKIES 'N' CREEEEEEEEME!

* * *

><p><strong>Zoey<strong>

That sunbeams shining on my face woke me gently that morning. I lay there a while letting them warm me up a little. It sure had been a cold night in the cave. It wasn't exactly comfy laying here on the floor either, but Mike had offered me some of the old newspapers that were piled up in his cart. He was being so sweet last night, it was enough to make me forget I was mad at him whenever he gave me one of those big gap-toothed grins that were so unmistakably Mike, not Vito or Chester or Svetlana or whoever Manitoba Smith was. He'd even asked if I wanted to sleep in the cart next to his (there were four carts in this cave, one was the one we had rode in here but the other two were on a separate track) he said he'd keep watch over me in case Ezekiel and his moles found their way back here (they had run off in terror after Brick had fought them off with both his secret weapon and his own team's Golden Chris, which had snapped in half).

I'd said sure, of course, but first I'd wanted to lie under the skylight, which at night opened up to a view of the pretty purple patchwork quilt that was the night sky, with its tiny pinpricks of light and a thin mist of cloud. I loved sleeping under the stars, but now I was mentally kicking myself for missing a chance to talk to Mike, without any interruption from Anne Maria.

I glanced across the cave to where Anne Maria was snoring audibly. She turned over in her sleep (her hair didn't even fray). Then I heard a soft yawn and looked around. "M-morning" said Mike, leaning out of the cart and rubbing his eyes. He looked around before realizing we were the only ones up. Then I thought, "Okay Zoey, maybe you didn't miss your chance yet."

"Hey Mike!" I spoke quietly, not wanting to ruin this moment by waking anyone up. I wanted to talk to him, I realized that we never had time like this in the morning, to just talk- the two of us. If we weren't in the noisy mess hall watching Jo and Brick race to the table or dodging the clouds of hairspray that floated from where Anne Maria sat, we were being catapulted into challenge after challenge where all we could do was try not to lose, for fear of being catapulted off the island. Now was my chance to talk to him and I had to be quiet, there had to be some place we could go... wait... there was!

"Hey, remember that pool we fell into yesterday? I mean, not you and Cameron, but you know what I mean." I played with my bangles, I was kinda nervous.

* * *

><p><strong>M<strong>

I searched my memory for a moment, it was full of empty spaces of course, the times when one of my four personalities took over. I didn't remember a pool, I didn't really remember much of anything yesterday. I realised she was waiting for my answer, was looking right at me. She was so pretty, even with her her hair all messed up from sleeping on the- had she slept on the floor all night? Was she avoiding me? Was she still mad? Oh man, I really didn't want to mess this up. I opened my mouth in reply but nothing came out. I closed it and tried again. Nothing.

* * *

><p><strong>Z<strong>

"Mike?" I asked nervously, "Is this, um... one of your... characters?" When he didn't say anything but open and close his mouth again with a panicked expression I ventured a guess, "Are you supposed to be like, a... fish or something?" Oh no, I hope I didn't just say something wrong, I just wanted him to know I was supportive of his acting career... even if it was a little unpredictable. Cameron had told me how some actors get so into their roles that they forget who they are for a moment.

* * *

><p><strong>M<strong>

"Oh! No, uh no," I said, shaking my head, "Uh I mean I'd love to go to the pool with you, Zoey!" I blurted out. "Nice going Mike, throw yourself right in the way of the speeding train of rejection." came a voice in my head that I was pretty sure was my own.

* * *

><p><strong>Z<strong>

I didn't remember asking out loud- oh no, was I that easy to read? "Uh, great! We'll have to take the cart I guess, I'm not sure how to work it but you know how to do that, right?"

* * *

><p><strong>M<strong>

"Sure!" I said, carefully taking her hands to help her into the minecart and leaning over its side. What were all those cranks and levers for? Manitoba Smith knew how to drive a minecart alright, but boring ordinary Mike didn't have much of a clue. I wondered if she had liked Manitoba, he was pretty daring and skilled, plus the girls back home loved adventurous guys, of course adventure back in Nova Scotia usually equated to jumping over something. Something like... something... like... oh no, the memory was coming back to me, what was it that Cameron had told me to do when this happened? We had talked last night while we sat up waiting for Chris to call back, everyone else had fallen asleep except for Jo, whose back and forth pacing could make anyone tired. Cameron had told me he knew about my Multiple Personality Disorder, and he'd still wanted to be friends! He'd even offered to teach me how to control it. I was so ecstatic I'd nearly crushed the shrimpy boy in a hug. In our first hushed lesson that night, Cameron had shown that he'd known a lot about MPD. He knew that it was triggered by things that reminded me of my worst memories. That I would create and become different people, people who didn't share those memories. He knew a lot for a kid. He'd also said to try to remember something else, something happier whenever I felt a personality switch coming on, which was what I was doing. Being able to talk to someone on the island about my 'quirk' after covering and hiding it for so long was an awesome memory. I shook my head and tried to steady my breathing like Cameron had suggested.

I realized we were still holding hands. "Heh, I think I'll need my hands for this..." I said, and gently pulled my arms away to try the biggest lever. With one big tug the cart began to roll slowly before gradually picking up speed. I'd done it right, we leaned over the edge as the cart sped out of their cave and entered the super huge space that was the main cavern. Ahead of them the tracks took a huge V-shaped dip, the one they had come up yesterday on their way out.

"Whoa!" Zoey cried out as the cart barrelled fast down the tracks, she grabbed hold of me and held on tightly to me. She was so close I could feel the quickened pace of her heartbeat, I could smell her hair, a sweet light scent, cinnamon? mint? I couldn't hold back a smile, and all I wanted to do then was hold onto her... to make her feel safe. We were going really fast now, and she was squeezing me so tightly I could barely keep up my breathing exercise. The cart continued but instead of stopping at the bottom of the V it kept on going, this time up a slope and onto a plateau. "Mike! The track!" Zoey cried out, pointing at the way ahead of us. I looked at the track, it was rusted through, there was a huge gap where the iron had bent and broken! I felt myself panic and I slipped out of consciousness...

* * *

><p><strong>Z<strong>

Oh no, how had I been dumb enough to forget about the broken track? It was what had sent me, Anne Maria and Scott plummeting into the lake the opposite way around. I'd been so caught up in the idea that Mike wanted to spend time alone with me just as much as I wanted to be with him! Looking down I realised that where the track cut off on this side was right above the sharp rocks they had narrowly missed the last time. What were we gonna do? Just then Mike grabbed my hand. He nodded towards the track behind us, he wanted us to jump out, onto it. "But if we miss we'll fall to our deaths!" I said. I looked ahead and realized I'd never imagined going out of this world on a minecart. Mike turned me around to face him. The look in his eyes was more intense than I knew him to be. "Trust me?" he said. All I could do was nod, and take his hand. Together we stood on the edge of the cart. I gulped; I wanted to close my eyes. We bent and sprung out of the cart. There was a terrifying sensation of weightlessness as I clung to him in mid air. Then we hit the track and tumbled to a stop. We breathed heavily as the cart barrelled off the track to fall, overturned onto the rocks below.

* * *

><p>Mike woke up to the sound of a horrible crash. Looking down he was relieved to see that they weren't in the cart that lay smashed on the rocks. His mood darkened, however, when he realized he'd given into his panic, had become Manitoba Smith. Zoey gave him a rib squeezing hug "You did it, Mike!" she rejoiced. Mike felt like crap. <em>He<em> didn't deserve this hug, _he_ hadn't saved Zoey, it had been Manitoba, the wiley wilderness survivor, not Mike, the mild-mannered magician. That was another thing Zoey couldn't know about him. What was there that he could tell her?

"Heh, no problem." They both looked down. It was a long way down. How were they going to get there from here? Mike had an idea.

"Hey Zoey, do you trust me?" he said, offering his hand to her. She beamed at him and put her hand in his "You know I do, Mike." Had he asked her that before? Her hand was so soft, he interlocked their fingers, he didn't want to let go. Together they took the leap. Zoey liked this jump much more than the first, he held her hand differently and smiled at her so they resurfaced from the cool, clear water of the underground pool.

* * *

><p>After an endless time of swimming around, playfully splashing each other and floating on their backs, looking at the high cavern ceiling, the pair lay on the waterside, drying off little by little. Mike liked the contented silence that passed between them awhile. What she asked next worried him a bit.<p>

"Hey, Mike, do you always carry around that deck of cards with you?" she said, sitting up and facing him, resting her head on her knees.

"Well, no- I mean- I did use them a lot back home so I guess they must have stowed away in my pocket and come along for the ride to the island... heh" Mike hoped that answer would be enough.

"Oh" she said, "So... do you like, play?" Mike took the plastic bag full of cards out of his pocket.

"Only know how to play Slapjack." he said, smiling.

They played for a while, and while they played the conversation moved onto other things: school, home, their favourite movies. Every now and then they'd both hit the stack of cards between them at the same time, and would leave their hands there, fighting for the same jack, but really just enjoying the sweet contact of their skin. Mike finally felt like things were going fine until she pursued the topic some more.

"How come you keep such a nice deck if you only know SlapJack?" she asked, looking at him curiously. Her eyes- they looked so full of something; the need for him to share something with her, a part of himself, something special they could keep between them; a mark of trust. She wanted to trust him, it showed in her eyes. So he knew she didn't trust him, not completely. And there was no way she would if he didn't take a bit of a risk.

* * *

><p>"Zoey, I keep these cards because..." he hesitated, took a deep breath and almost shouted the rest, "I do magic tricks." He closed his eyes as if steeling himself for her response. This was the part where she'd laugh at him and then call him a dork. She laughed at him and then said, "Is that it?" He opened his eyes.<p>

"Geeze, from the way you say it, I thought you were gonna say you were a big time gambler or something" she beamed up at him; things were okay.

"You don't think it's... lame?" he said, looking down at the cards and shuffling them nervously. She lay her hand on his shoulder gently. "No way, one time a circus came to my small town and I went to see it. There were lights and fast rides," Zoey's eyes were misty as she went on, "and I remember watching this magician. He kept making this bird appear and disappear under this hat, well that was until..."

"Until what?" prodded Mike.

"Until the jocks in my neighbourhood started jeering at him, and somebody thought it'd be really funny to throw candied apples at him till he ran off the stage. I guess they wanted him to hurry up so that they could watch the next act, the 700 pound muscle man." She rolled her eyes and let out a sigh.

"Wow," said Mike, "that sounds a lot worse that what I have to deal with. That guy ought to go by invite only, with talent like that. The bird thing is a really high level trick. It took me ages to learn."

"What do they do to you back home?" she said, tilting her head curiously. She was so cute when she did that.

"Well, they do a lot of stuff: super glue my cape so it sticks to the stage during performances.."

"You perform?"

"Yeah- oh, one time they killed the bird I was gonna use for the trick, they'd poisoned it overnight so it died on stage. That was at a five-year old's birthday party. It was pretty bad."

"Those jerks! Let me guess. Were they everyone's favourite big-headed heroes- the local lettermans?"

"Nah, they didn't play football or anything. But they were the toughest gang of drinkin', partyin' hunters off the Res."

"Remind me of the jerks back home. Always making sure you knew you weren't invited to the party of the year, trashing the auditorium right after you've stayed up all night preparing it for the dance and then getting the audience to chant "We want Eminem!" at your favourite local band that you worked so hard to book for the night, and had finally got to meet. Or just pouring soda down your back and pretending it was an accident, calling you the 'freaky hipster girl' or taking your undies out of your bag before swimming to toss to each other across the room above your head, laughing their heads off at how they're covered in little purple bunnies. It's not fair. They've already got friends and cash, why do they need to mess with the people who don't?" Zoey had said too much. She'd revealed that she wasn't too popular and not too rich.

"Yeah, totally. No one ever gets it, how isolating it can be..when there's no one like you around." She looked up at him and smiled. He understood! "Like, back home they'd always be going after the young deer instead of the bucks, because they were too chicken to have to take on the big ones. They'd just corner the ones that were helpless. I hated it, I always covered my eyes, they made fun of me a lot. That's when I stopped going along with them. Plus, after I reported them they really got mad..."

"That's so terrible! Shooting at a baby deer... It was good of you to quit going with them... It was really brave of you too... to file a report," she looked up at him, "even if it meant getting on their bad side." Mike blushed at the compliment, "I like you too" he stammered, "Um, I mean you're pretty- I mean_ it's_ pretty cool how you keep being you-" Her face flushed at this, so he went on "-You know even when it would mean having an easier time and a lot more friends." Wait, what had he just said? "Oh, I mean-"

"It's alright, Mike. I know what you meant." she said, then she turned to him "...We're friends, right?"

"Of course! I mean- Well... I'd like to think we're... more than friends." he replied nervously, "I mean, I really like you, Zoey."

"Aww, I really like you too, Mike" she hugged him, he hugged her back. He wanted to stay that way forever. She rested her head lightly against his chest and he gently stroked her back with his hand. He didn't have to say anything and neither did she. They could just sit like that. It felt so good being able to talk to someone like that; to open up, and to find that there was somebody who understood. Zoey. She was perfect.

Their quiet moment was interrupted all of a sudden by shrieks that were undoubtedly Anne Maria's as she and Cameron came pelting down the track above them in a cart. They had been prepared for the break in the track, had already stripped into their swimwear, and after some calculation Cameron said "One, two-"

"Wait, on three or after three?" asked a panicked Anne Maria, who was holding Cameron's shirt above her head.

"On three, well now it's- just jump" and he sprang out of the cart, for a second he fell terrifyingly fast but then his hoodie, which he was holding above him, opened out like a parachute, allowing him to glide slowly down, he really was lightweight.

"Anne Maria!"

Anne Maria had tripped on her jump so her makeshift parachute didn't have time to open. She grabbed onto Cameron's foot halfway down and the two of them crashed onto a large flat rock. Anne Maria's hair absorbed the shock of impact and she quickly climbed up out of the water to sunbathe.

"Hey, who's blockin' my sun?" she looked up angrily at the cavern ceiling "Oh, yeah, forgot."

Cameron got up from the rock, rubbing his back where it had hit the rock.

"You okay, Cameron?" asked Zoey from across the pool.

"I'm fine, I can't really swim, but hopefully a dip in the water will decrease the levels of toxicity in our systems." He noted his own chemical badge, which was black, with a skull and crossbones on it.

"The water will do you good, Cam" said Zoey, "I feel better already!"

"Me too, anyone else notice how our chem badges are black now, but we're all still, you know, alive?" asked Mike.

"Well, they aren't completely accurate, I mean different factors can affect how long we 'last', like what we've eaten" Mike became aware of the first pangs of hunger. "Or what chemicals we're in contact with," Anne Maria stopped spraying her skin for a moment and considered the ingredient list on the back of the can. "DHA, Pol-y-ac-ry-l-amide," she sounded the word out carefully "and Orange dye #77, I'm no scientologist but this don't say 'chemical' anywhere, shrimpy." and she continued to apply the stuff to her already glowing skin. The rest of them tried to stifle a laugh but finally cracked up when she looked around at them cluelessly. "Wha'd I say?"

Their eyes were drawn up to the cavern ceiling again as they heard the echo of grunting. Brick came swinging on the track with his arms, a look of determination on his face. When he saw them he smiled and looked down, allowing himself to drop, in cannon-ball form, to the deep water below. "I woke up and no-one was there, I had to find you all, but there was not cart on this track, I guess it's a good thing because it's busted." he regarded the broken track above him as he climbed out of the water. He looked around, he hadn't found the lake during the challenge. It sure looked nice. "Where's Jo?" he said, looking around.

"Yeah, and where's sparky?" asked Anne Maria.

* * *

><p><strong>Brick<strong>

I picked up a stone and gripped it firmly. "Two of our men are unaccounted for." I frowned "We've got to try to find them!"I started to wring out my shirt and headed for the rocky slope that led back up to the tracks. I had just raised my right leg to begin climbing.

"At, ease, soldier." came Jo's voice from above. She was standing in a cart with Lightning; one foot up on the edge of it, with the wind flying through her hair. I couldn't stop myself following her command. I dropped my right foot onto the ground beside me, I hoped she didn't see that. Her eyes were shut against the wind as the cart sped up towards the gap.

* * *

><p><strong>Jo<strong>

"Jo, the track!" he shouted a little too loudly. I was a bit surprised by the catch in his voice, it wasn't such a big fall at all. I noticed the rocks but didn't let fear flicker across my face for even an instant. Instead I replied coolly "Calm down, Private Puddle." I'd forgotten about rule number three of the conditions he had made for my remaining on the team. I don't think he even noticed because he looked pretty worried. Why did he question my skill? I calmly reached for the vertical lever and cranked it downwards. The cart came to a quick stop just before the break in the tracks. Not bad for timing.

* * *

><p><strong>Brick<strong>

I realized I'd been holding my breath. I was glad Jo was safe- she was part of my team, after all. -Lightning too, he jumped onto the track and raced down the rocky slope to the lake.

* * *

><p>"Regional diving champ, coming through!" she yelled, cupping her hand around her mouth like a megaphone. She jumped, leaned forward and streamlined herself against the air that whipped her hair about her face. She squinted, looking focused. Everyone watched as she slid silently into the water and emerged with a triumphant smirk. "And that's how you do it." Zoey cheered, and Cameron clapped his hands while Mike wolf whistled, even Anne Maria managed a half mocking whoop, accentuated by a lazy fist pump. Jo rolled her eyes as she came out of the water, splashing those on the shore. "You'd better be impressed, you're looking at the winner of seventeen gold medals- and that's just for my pin-dive."<p>

Anne Maria pretended to gasp "Really? How many did'ya win for bragging?" and the others laughed for a bit. This earned her a splash from Jo. She had just been drying off a fresh layer of vermillion spray. "Why I oughtta..." threatened Anne Maria, and she splashed back at Jo, but even then she was only playing around. She shook her fist in mock anger as Jo dodged the water that came her way. "You're lucky this tan is waterproof, Blondie, or you woulda had some of it in your eye by now!"

Jo grinned fiercely. Even being splashed wouldn't dampen their moods, today was the day they'd be rescued from the cave. If they were going back into challenges and eliminations today, there was no harm in having fun now. Jo didn't mind it one bit, just as long as she kept her game face on in preparation and kept their team's Gilded Chris safe in the hood of her jacket.

* * *

><p><strong>Anne Maria<strong>

Everyone went on like that for a while, I could get used to dis. Brick and Jo were racin' eachother across the pool. Lightnin' was pickin' up big rocks and doin one-armed lifts. I guess the guy's ego must've bruised pretty bad after not bein' able to move those rocks last night. Zoey, Mike and Cameron were havin' a chat and the sounds in the cave were nice, ya know? It was puttin' me to sleep. I didn't wanna get up, but my spraycan had rolled outta reach. Lookin' around I noticed somethin' outta check.

"Hey, guys, where's the pastiest of em all? Scott, I mean."

* * *

><p>Everyone looked around. Where was Scott?<p>

"Don't worry Guys, I'm right here." They heard his unmistakeable voice echo. They looked up at the track, he wasn't there. "Since when does right here mean the ceiling?" They looked to the back of the cavern, there he was by the edge of the lake, following their line of vision to the track. "You guys didn't actually all jump that, did you? It looks so... unsafe." He brought his hand to his mouth in concern.

"Where were you?" asked Jo

"I woke up and figured I should go look for a way out, the same way we came in but-"

"-It's blocked, remember?" said Jo, eyeing him, "You were there."

"I just wanted to make sure. I don't want to depend on Chris, our trigger-happy bomb-packing host, as our only means of escape." he picked up a flat stone and skipped it across the lake surface.

"That McLean does take things way too far." agreed Jo. "But we'd better just stick together till we're found. We don't want anyone being left behind."

* * *

><p><strong>Brick<strong>

I looked up at Jo, was she coming around? Had she finally started to realize how much her fellow competitors mattered to her? Would she quit calling me nicknames now? Did she realize how much she valued me- as a teammate?

She continued "Besides, if anyone's getting a way out it definitely won't be one of you Maggots."

Nope. Same ol' cup of Jo.

"Oh yeah! The Rats are takin' the win on this one! Sha-BAM!" shouted Lightning as Jo accepted a high-five from him and grinned smugly. "Good arm." She put her hands on her hips and looked him up and down, approvingly. "Good? More like the best, bro!"

I'd never really paid attention to Lightning, but now I knew I didn't care for his attitude one bit.

* * *

><p>Her expression sharpened and she pushed him away<p>

"I am _not_ a-"

Just then they heard a terrible racket. Sirens began to blare extremely loudly. Then there was a terrible rhythmic chopping. Mike panicked, and became Chester who shook his fist in the air, yelling "Lousy rotten teenagers with their loud rap music!"

"Whadda we do? Whadda we do?" asked Anne Maria, frantically, clutching her spraycan close to her chest. Lightning sprinted across the cave and dove behind some rocks. Mike and Zoey held onto each other. Cameron pulled his hood over his head and curled up on the floor. "I want my bubble~" he whined. A small puddle formed at Brick's feet.

Jo stood, covering her ears. "This way!" she shouted above the noise. "It's probably Chris!" she pointed towards the rocky slope that led to the track that then led back to the exit. Jo jogged up the path, with Lightning close behind, not looking back. Scott shrugged and started to follow him up. Brick helped Anne and Cameron surmount the more difficult rocks, and Mike and Zoey made their way last.

They had just begun to climb into Jo's cart when the siren cut off and the chopping slowed down to a whirr that they could recognise as the sound of a helicopter. A loud voice boomed on a megaphone "CHRIS MCLEAN," It started, "THIS IS THE CANADIAN ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENCE FORCE. YOU ARE UNDER ARREST FOR UNSPEAKABLE DAMAGE TO PLANT SPECIES AND THE ANIMAL WILDLIFE OF THIS AREA. YOU ARE CHARGED WITH UNAUTHORIZED OPENING OF A CONSTRUCTION SITE ON BONEY ISLAND WHICH LED TO THE DEATH OF THIRTEEN WORKERS AS WELL AS THE USE OF AN ENVIRONMENTALLY SENSITIVE ISLAND FOR ILLEGAL AND IMPROPER STORAGE OF TOXIC WASTE." They looked at each other incredulously, Chris, the infamous karma escape artist- being _arrested_? The cart made its descent down the track's valley, accumulating a terrifying speed.

"Get these handcuffs off -argh!- You _can't_ arrest me! I'm_ Chris McLean_!" came Chris's voice, furious but full of panic.

The cart ground to a halt inside their cave. They hopped out and looked above them through the skylight. They could see four or five helicopters, circling above. One made its way down and out of sight. The rest shone bright lights down, searching for Chef now.

"Chef, deploy the secret weapon!" shouted Chris.

The woods outside filled with the blood-curdling cries of some kind of giant monster. "!"

"What the-?" came the sound of the megaphones then a strangled cry of pain. "AAaaaAAAAHHHHHHHHH"

"GET DOWN, ALL OF YOU!" yelled an authoritative voice. They heard what was undoubtedly a good fifty gunshots pierce the air. From the anguished shriek that followed, they could tell that some of them had met their mark. There was the sound of the crushing of trees, and the scattering of birds as the beast -whatever it was- fled blindly into the forest, still making that horrible sound.

"Chef, RUN!" cried Chris as a helicopter came into view above them. Chris was being restrained by two men in radiation-proof suits. He fought them desperately, but after some struggle they managed to push him back and secured him to his seat in the helicopter.

"You're never gonna catch me alive, suckers!" came Chef Hatchet's voice from the woods "You'll never get me or my first name isn't-" *PEW* A long groan followed by a thud indicated that the mighty Chef had been felled by a tranquillizer dart.

They watched in horror as Chef's limp body was air lifted in a net by a second helicopter. A third helicopter was seen, carrying away some interns who looked worried.

"CHRIS MCLEAN, WE HAVE KNOWLEDGE THAT THERE ARE EIGHT CONTESTANTS FOR YOUR SHOW, ALL MINORS, WHO ARE BEING KEPT IN AN ENVIRONMENT THAT HAS BEEN DEEMED SEVERELY BIOHAZARDOUS."

"They're not in the cabins, sir" came a voice from nearby.

"CHRIS MCLEAN, HOW CAN YOU ACCOUNT FOR THE DISAPPEARANCE OF THE EIGHT AFFOREMENTIONED MINORS"

"We're down here!" shouted Jo. They all began to call out towards the skylight, jumping and waving their arms frantically. Jo pulled out her whistle and blew hard. Nobody above them seemed to take any notice.

"They got sealed in the abandoned mine! I was going to get them out but by the time I'd got their message- Well let's just say there's no use checking now." came Chris' voice.

They screamed louder than before, their voices growing hoarse.

"CHRIS MCLEAN. YOU SICK BASTARD, YOU'RE GOING TO JAIL FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE."

"No way! I'm too hot to do jail time!" Chris protested.

"LISTEN, MAN, WHAT YOU DID IS SICK. OH MY GOD I CAN'T EVEN LOOK AT YOU RIGHT NOW. ARE THEY IN THERE? I THINK WE OUGHT TO-"

"!" came the sound of the monster as it raged back towards them through the forest, completely drowning out the man on the megaphone as well as their own desperate cries.

"HOLY ****, LET'S GET OUT OF HERE, MAN!" came the voice from the megaphone.

"ON BEHALF OF THE CANADIAN ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENCE FORCE I DECLARE THIS ISLAND A RED ZONE. I REPEAT: THIS ISLAND IS NOW RED ZONED." The voice boomed, then went fainter and fainter as the helicopter soared upwards and then disappeared from view, the speck of hope dissolving in a dark grey sky.

* * *

><p>Mike gasped. He was Mike again. It had been so hard to hold that last personality switch back, like holding in a powerful sneeze. What had he missed? Everyone in the cave looked either sad, terrified, depressed or angry. He tried to match his expression to those in the room. Zoey clutched his hand. She was on the verge of tears.<p>

"What are we gonna do? With Chris and Chef arrested- everyone gone..." she sniffed. "What did they mean when they said the island was a red zone, Cameron?" she turned to face him.

"Red Zones are areas that the C.E.D.F deem unfit for human entrance, so they restrict access to the public and-"

"So they're just gonna leave us here?" asked Anne Maria, incredulously, "Just like dat?"

"Lightnin' don't wanna die in a cave! There is no way the Lightnin' is gonna die!"

"Yeah, since '_Lightin'_ can outrun death." said Scott, rolling his eyes.

"-and even government officials can't enter a Red Zone until it's declared safe."

"So they won't send a search party after us?" asked Brick, looking up through the hole above, at the sky.

"Of course they won't. We're dead, remember." said Jo.

"Well, there's only one thing to do now." she turned on her heel to face them all.

"Helmet-hair, Flower girl- your first task is to make this place fit for living in. You can start by making some decent sleeping arrangements."

"Because we're _girls_?"

Jo sighed "You had to make me say it, _okay_, it's because you're useless otherwise."

"Hey!" they said in unison.

"Alright, Toothpick, Jarhead- you two will be in charge of finding food."  
>"Where are we going to find food in here?" asked Brick.<p>

"Yeah, what do you want us to do, fry up one of those giant mutant moles?" added Mike.

"You'll do whatever it takes,Toothpick, if you wanna make it past one night in here alive." said Jo, prodding Mike in the chest.

"Actually, abandoned mines usually contain a wealth of stored food, usually tinned stuff, but it should still be good, even canned beans from the 1940's are fine for eating."

"Ew, there's no way I'm eatin cruddy beans from the prehistoric era or whateva." said Anne Maria shaking her head.

"You'll eat it, and you'll like it, princess, because it's all you're getting!" shouted Jo. She was clearly pissed off now. The two of them glared at each other. Wanting to diffuse the tension, Cameron asked

"What will be my task, Jo?"

"Stringbean, since you were the one who sent Chris that distress call, not that _that_ worked out terrificly, you can be in charge of communications with the outside world. Jo motioned for Scott to hand him the ePhone. "We don't want to waste the battery..turn it on later, we can use it together. Right,_ buddy_" he said as he handed it to Cameron. The hairs on Cameron's neck raised.

"That just leaves Scott, Lightning and Jo." said Cameron, to change the subject.

"Yes, Freckle Face you ought to be in charge of tunnel exploration, like you were up to today. Scope out the place, bring back anything you find, tell us what to look out for, like, how'd you get down to the lake today?"

"I took the cart on the other track, the one without the break. It took me all the way back to the elevators where we started the challenge. There were alot of tunnels in there, so I tried some. The last one led me back to the lake." Jo considered this for a moment

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot. I found this while I was out there." he pulled out a length of rope of decent thickness.

"Wow, well done, Scott."

* * *

><p><strong>Cameron<strong>

Scott had already earned Jo calling him by his real name, I was still Stringbean. I could tell that in the back of their minds, everyone was blaming me for this. I had to come up with another idea for our escape, and soon.

* * *

><p><strong>Brick<strong>

Jo was already calling him Scott, and he wasn't even on our team. He handed her the rope, which she slung over her shoulder. It seemed to lighten her mood a bit. I didn't know what plans she had for that rope, and why they were so important that he'd graduated into her esteem. I didn't know if I could trust him.

* * *

><p>"Lightnin got left out!" cried Lightning, indignantly.<p>

"Course not, we just saved the _best_ for last" said Scott sarcastically.

"Oh" said Lightning, "Lightnin approves." he started doing an elaborate victory dance that looked dangerous, so they backed away a bit. "Sha-Lightnin!" he cried as he attempted to finish his dance with a backflip into one of the two carts.

"Jo, what's Sparky's job gonna be?" whispered Scott

There was a loud crash as he landed, face-first in between the carts.

"-Entertainment." Jo replied, chuckling malevolently.

"Sha-Oww!" they heard him yell.

* * *

><p><strong>Scott<strong>

As long as Sparky isn't sharing tasks with me, things could be looking up.

* * *

><p>"Just kidding, he can share tasks with you, Scott." she finished.<p>

"But he doesn't know his way around a place like this, I live on a dirt farm." whined Scott.

"Yes, but he's way stronger than you. We don't know what's down there, so he can keep you safe and you can keep him-"

There was another crash as Lightning tried the same stunt again, with the same results.

"-from killing himself."

* * *

><p><strong>Scott<strong>

"Crap." I thought. "Crapcrapcrapcrapcrap." I wanted to bang my head on a wall. How was my plan going to work now that I had to drag Mr. Dumb Muscle along with me? He really was their village idiot. Then I realized, this could work in my favour after all.

* * *

><p>"And what will be my job?" asked Jo, turning to face the pile of rocks that blocked the exit and balling her hand into a fist. "I will be keeping vigil day and night, trying every way possible to get us all out of this place." She said, slamming her fist into her opened hand.<p>

"Hey guys, I've just noticed something!" called Cameron. Everyone gathered around the little guy, who was pointing at Anne Maria's chemical badge.

"They're fake!" he said, smiling.

"The hell did he say? Listen pipsqueak, these babies are a hundred percent-"

"No- er, I mean , your chem badge, Anne Maria, you left it on in when you fell into the lake- now look at it"

they all leaned in to get a closer view. It had turned grey.

"Oh God, what's gray mean again?" began Anne Maria, looking panicked.

"Nothing! It means these things aren't real film badge dosimeters, If they were the colour wouldn't have changed. The real badges are chemically stained film, and these seem to be little electronic screens that change colour according to a timer" he took the badge off Anne Maria and pryed off the backing. "Yep, it's clockwork!" Cameron was beaming up at them all.

"..So, we're not going to die?" asked Zoey, still slightly confused.

"Nope! Well, not of radiotoxicity anyways..."

Everyone cheered up a bit at this news. Mike and Zoey hugged, Lightning jumped up and down and Anne Maria cocked her hand onto her hips, smiling shrewdly as if to say, "Good goin, Shrimpy."

"We might not have death via toxic waste, but we might be starving to death soon, if someone doesn't hurry up and search for some food." said Jo, she was being a bit pushy, but they could all agree that they'd gone long enough without food.

* * *

><p>By the time Mike and Brick had returned with the goods, everyones insides were being clawed at by a two-day hunger (they hadn't even had breakfast the morning of their last challenge, except Lightning, who had chosen to snack on the meat-sicles he found in the freezer).<p>

Their arms were full of tin cans, and Brick carried a large pot, all with varying amounts of rust. "Great, what'd you find?"

"Herring paste and asparagus." replied Mike, putting down the cans in the middle of where they were sitting. Scott and Lightning had found some pickaxes and had carved out some big chunks of charcoal which Zoey and Anne Maria had done their best to make resemble furniture. They formed four large seats, all padded with some of the newspaper from the carts. Zoey and Anne Maria had figured that two seats could be pushed together and used for a bed.

"Good thinking, Zoey!" said Mike.

"What am I? Chopped livah?" said Anne Maria, frowning.

"You both did pretty good." finished Jo.

The problem of opening the cans (which only dated back seven years) was solved by Scott's expert use of his lucky sharktooth. Once open, Brick dumped the contents of all the cans into the blackened coalpot and began to stir it up with its matching iron spoon.

"Argh! Why did you mix in the asparagus?" asked Jo, looking disgustedly at the pot.

"I thought it made sense, the herring would be too herring-y on its own." replied Brick.

"Well I happen to like my herring 'herring-y'!" said Jo advancing towards him.

"Wait just a minute, you haven't even given the asparagus a chance!" he said, frowning.

"I've never eaten an asparagus that I enjoyed. Hopefully its vile taste will be overpowered by the superior flavour of herring!" She responded, folding her arms across her chest in resolve.

"Okay, so maybe the asparagus isn't so great compared to the herring, they can still work together!" came Brick's insistent reply.

"Herring is perfect, on its own." said Jo, as if that ened the matter.

"Uh guys, not that dis isn't completely important, but I think the rest of us'd like to eat now." said Anne Maria, drying out her hair with the blowdryer she'd taken along.

"How are you doing that?" asked Scott.

"Battery Operated." she replied, nonchalantly. Jo got up and grabbed the contraption from Anne Maria.

"Hey! Hands off, blondie!" She made to get up but after testing it settings, Jo put it down to rest under the coalpot. Soon they could see the stew begin to bubble gently.

"Arrgh, if I weren't so hungry right now I'd rearrange your face, blondie." she punched her first into her opened hand threateningly. " Not that it wouldn't be an improvement."

"Lightnin objects! My man Joe is not a bad good lookin guy!"

Jo facepalmed in exhasperation.

"Didn't you guys find any matches in there?" asked Scott.

"Nope." replied Mike

"Matches in coalmines aren't the best idea, as there's so much flammable gas trapped in here, although with the new skylight, it wouldn't be a problem now." said Cameron. They all looked up at the darkening sky above, as their second day in the cave slowly turned to night.

* * *

><p>A while later they all sat around the empty pot, each drinking the stew out of a can- it was a good hot meal for the eight starving teenagers who'd had nothing for two days and nothing but strange gruel for the days before that. Everyone ate quickly, even Anne Maria, everyone except for Jo, who was carefully picking out the chunks of asparagus and tossing them back into the pot.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>Brick<strong>

We had searched hard to find that food, and she was just throwing it away, like it didn't even matter! I couldn't take it any longer.

* * *

><p>"If you don't want to eat the asparagus with the herring," Brick said, " why don't you just eat it on its own? Even if you don't like it can't you tolerate it enough to down it?"<p>

"I'm not eating it because I don't want it, and I definitely don't need it. I'm fine with just the herring." she said, putting down her can of food. She made as if to get up, but Brick didn't think it was right to end it like that.

"Here," Brick said, scooping the asparagus in the pot back into her tin. "Here, just try it, you'll like it."

"Quit it, cadet, I'm good for the night. Don't need your damn asparagus."

"Come _on_, it's back on _your team_ now!" he blurted.

The room got quiet.

"I meant- tin- Uh- It's back in your **_tin_** now!"

Jo's eyes widened briefly, as if she was startled. She shook her head and paused before saying.

"Give it up, Brickhouse, I'm full." and with that went to sit at her post by the wall of rock.

* * *

><p>"Classic" said Chris, as he clinked champagne glasses with Blaineley, celebrating the success of their perfect prank, which had all been caught on her HD cameras on his totally dramatic island. It had all been too easy, the sound effects, the helicopters. He grinned at his new fellow host as she sipped the champagne and spoke coolly, "Great acting, Chris, you make an <em>eerily<em> convincing desperate fugitive, had any practice?" She looked up at him in mock innocence. "No," he replied, "but you sure do play the part of loud-mouthed man well." and added smugly, "Oh and by the way, the megaphone you were using was switched _off_." She glared at him as he took another sip. And then smirked. Everything was going as planned.

That night, as everyone fell into a drowsy sleep, Zoey and Mike lay next to each other with his deck of cards, propped up on their elbows. He was showing her his 'disappearing Ace' trick.

"Hey, Mike" Zoey yawned.

"Yeah, Zoey?" he replied, also feeling himself fall asleep.

"What do you like about magic?" she asked, resting her head on the newspaper she had padded up for a pillow.

"I dunno, I guess magic is all about doing crazy things, but being able to distract people from the truth well enough that they don't realize what's happening right in front of their eyes. It just feels good, you know?" He rested his head down too.

"Plus, people tend not to stick around once they know what's been going on." he finished, trailing off as he went under.

Zoey wasn't sure she really understood, but she looked up at his adorable sleeping face and replied

"Yeah, I get it." And so she joined him in sleep, where they curled up together as the cave grew colder.

* * *

><p>Acelaces: You guys like your ice-cream?<p>

Everyone: Mhm!

Cameron: Is this what love tastes like? 8D

tggfcgfgthtyh

FINALLY! I'VE FINISHED CHAPTER 2! Hopefully none of the other chapters are this long.

What'd you think? Please review. Feedback gives this fic momentum.

So our campers are gonna be in this mine for a while, and like it or not, they're gonna be in there together.

What will happen next?

Will Jo and Brick be able to sort themselves out _without_ the need for wierd metaphors?

What is Scott doing off on his own?

Will Mike ever learn to trust in the heart of the cards?

Will phoney chemical badges become the next fashion trend?

Where are they all going to the bathroom?

Most of thesequestions will be answered in the next Chapter of

Total

Drama

Revenge of the Forevermine!


	3. Back to the old Mine

**Here's the long-awaited Chapter 3 of TDROTFM**

In our last chapter after a splash-tastic underground pool party our miners realised they weren't going anywhere anytime soon, victims of Chris and Blaineley's most brutal part prank part publicity stunt. Ditched for dead in a deserted den, they were left to delegate duties and deal with drama. Scott showed he was good at disappearing and deserved digging duty with the dumbest of dudes. Brick argued with Jo about tinned asparagus that was really him. A bad guy got into Jo's good books, on the plus side, Mike and Zoey discovered that Friendship is Magic just like Cameron discovered their toxicity badges were as fake as Anne Maria's gigantic- diamond.

So no-one's gonna die...of radiotoxicity.

* * *

><p>BRICK<p>

The sun wasn't shining in our cave when I woke up, so I decided I'd head down to the foodstock cave and fix up this morning's chow. It was pretty darn dark, as we'd say back at Bootcamp it was about zero-dark-thirty. But this definitely wasn't Bootcamp. Even though, thanks to Jo we each had a set of duties, we had even more time. This wasn't the kind of time you could mark like when you marched uphill and back again. It wasn't the kind of time that was clocked with activities for the day, I'd gotten used to wake up, work out, breakfast, challenge, dinner, elimination ceremony. No, we were dealing with time that stretches on and on, this was time that was quiet- that stole yur thoughts at night. Made you think of the things you never wanted to think about, like how your parents think you've bought the farm. I thought of mom again. It hurt to think of her like that, I hated it when she cried. I took out the picture of her I'd taken with me, I don't know why it made me feel better to look at her smiling like that. She was stirring a bowl of cream and looking away from the camera, she was always real shy.

I remembered that day perfectly, I was in that picture, but I was short back then, you could just see the top of my head above the kitchen counter, this was pre-crew cut. The summer sunday before I was supposed to start the new year of school. I loved sundays, not just because I got to spend the whole day with mom helping out in the kitchen, but mostly because I didn't have to do my mailroute. My dad has signed me up, he didn't want vacation to make me soft, he wanted me to get used to waking up, right up in the morning and jumping into honest work. He definitely wasn't the type to drag a sleepy kid out of bed in the morning for school, dad was a no-nonsense kind of guy.

So every day at the crack of dawn I'd ride my bike up and then down that hill. i didn't mind the heat that bore down as i pedalled up the hill and readied myself for the route. I didn't mind anything as long as I could get though a morning without finding the Grady boys waiting for me on the end of Fyke Street, a scatter of grey houses the closest to the mudflats.

Peter Grady had a mean left hook. He was the one that hated me the most. His mother had been our elementary school teacher and she liked me best. Always said i was a good kid, how I'd helped her to put away the book box or clap the chalkboard erasers, while he was outside writing his name on the walls and putting foul stuff down people's shirts.

They'd usually form a barricade across the street to block my way. Then they'd circle around me. Mostly they'd call me stuff like 'shortstuff' or 'pee-pants.' Not the most creative nickname, but they'd come up with it on my first and last sleepover when I'd gotten kinda spooked at lights out. Mom told me not to fall for the namecalling bit, that they were just trying to get me worked up so I'd do something stupid, and start a fight with four bigger guys. She told me words couldn't hurt as much as the bruises I'd come home with. I didn't know about that; back then sometimes I'd get off my bike and swing at them first just so they'd get the beating part over with. I hated the things they said, especially when they talked about mom. Then I'd swing blindly at them, mostly cause I was angry, and also cause of the tears that would earn me an even more brutal beating.

It wasn't like Mom didn't try to help, but she always looked so sad when she had to put savlon on my knees. Even when I'd hug her and tell her I'd just fallen off my bike that time. My dad had just told me to pick myself up and bear it, that nothing built character like good old fashioned hardship. He was tough, but I think he'd had the right idea. I remember that day he'd lifted me up onto the counter so I could watch Mom make peaches and cream (she used to call it 'sun-in-the-clouds'). I'd gotten excited and jumped off the counter, then I'd asked Dad to put me back up again. I still remembered what he'd said.

"Nobody out there's gonna carry your weight for you, son. And when someone does give you a hand you've got respect the heck out of that."

After that he'd gone back to work. As soon as his car was out of the drive Mom scooped me up and put me back onto the counter. I helped her to make Sunday lunch that day, I loved Sundays (I didn't have paper route on Sundays). She hummed while she stirred and I' got her things from out of the spice cupboard.

Things were going great till I made the mistake of going outside to put out the awning on the porch- while still wearing Mom's flowered apron- just as Peter Grady happened to walk past, tossing rocks at every mailbox he passed.

I'd stopped dead in my tracks. He didn't come at me or even try to pelt a stone at me. All he'd done was shake his head slow from side to side and let a wide grin spread across his face.

"See you Monday, Bricky-boy."

I'd been left to spend the whole night wondering what kind of terror I could expect on the first day of the school year. Of course the stuff he'd planned wasn't near as bad as what I had to put up with after having an accident when I bumped into him in the hall that day.

I'd tried to get everyone to believe I'd used the water fountain and missed but nobody bought it. Peter had already told everybody about the apron incident and they already thought I was funny-looking, so of course I loned it for most of highschool. Enlisting in Boot camp was probably the best thing that could have happened to me.

Enough drills to keep your blood hot and your head clear, all the chow you could eat and of course, the company of other guys who knew the value of determination and teamwork. Although the others never seemed as keen on it as me, most of them had been delinquents and I could hardly find a match for my enthusiasm (which I'd got a medal for). I missed it, the routine, the drills, it was kind of like this competition, only much less brutal. But if the competition was like Boot camp, this mine was war. Routine gave way to chaos, and I had a feeling that soon things would be do-or-die. I opened another crate to look for this morning's rations, when I saw what was there, I couldn't help smiling.

* * *

><p>"Hey, dis peach stuff ain't half bad." said Anne Maria, she took the last slice of peach out of the tin of condensed milk and ate it before walking over to the middle of the cave and laying on her back.<br>"What're you doing?"  
>"You can't just wake up lookin dis good, A tan like dis takes work" she replied as she stretched out under the skylight and closed her blue-shaded eyes against the bright sunbeams.<br>It was quiet except for the faint sound of birds above, he caught a glimpse of them fly overhead in the patch of sky before they disappeared from view.  
>Brick looked around the room.<p>

Cameron was curled up in sleep with his hood over his head either to remind him of the envelopment of his bubble or to cushion repeated kicks from Lightning, who seemed to be caught up in some kind of football fantasy.

In another corner Mike and Zoey were laying very close, they were still sleeping heavily, they must've been up late. Brick glanced at the crate nearest the wall of rock.  
>"Where's Jo?" he asked, and hastily added, "-and Scott?"<br>"My guess is as good as yours," Anne Maria replied,"You know those two, always up to something. Can't just kick back and relax" and she yawned.  
>Brick wondered when Jo and Scott had become 'those two.'<p>

* * *

><p>SCOTT<p>

I woke up pretty early this morning so I decided I'd go back to the tunnels I was checking out before. While the rest of those losers were trying to figure out how to make it in here, I was making my way out. I knew what I was doing, I hadn't gone into the freezer truck like the rest of those doofuses the morning of the challenge, so I had to head down to the mine on my own. I was pissed at first but it gave me a good glimpse of McLean's interns hooking up the extension cords for the cameras.

I made a note of the place where they put a big rock to cover up the tunnel exit for later. The cords were pretty well covered up inside the mine though, Mclean did good, but not good enough. I kicked a spot on the wall I'd remembered from yesterday, that I'd found before everyone else had woken up and the sound of em splashing around had forced me to go to the lake before they came lookin.

The rock made a hollow sound,but not the kind of hollow of the million other wooden boxpits or pipes there were in here. I checked again, yep, you have to get up pretty early in the morning to fool a kid who's been hiddin loon traps on his Pappy's dirtfarm since he could hold a shovel. I dug open the wire box with my fingernails and pulled up the cord, after that it was easy goin. I just followed it deeper into the tunnel, it was getting pretty tight in there, and it was pitch black everywhere but the three or four feet in front of my flashlight.

Jo had given me total flashlight priveleges, since I fed her that B.S about looking for a way out. Gaining her trust was easier than I'd expected, seeing as she'd been so suspicious of me when I'd told her that stuff about Jarhead. She was starting to feel the pressure I guess, they all were. I guess it made sense seeing as they had no idea there was a sure way out. I snickered, I could see a shard of light at the end of this tunnel, almost out of sight.

* * *

><p>"So, got any tunes on this thing?" asked Mike, mentally kicking himself for asking such an obvious question.<br>"Nope, just audiobooks." replied Zoey.  
>"Oh, that's cool!" said Mike, not wanting to seem depreciative, but at the same time asking himself "Who<em> does<em> that?"  
>The look on her face was incredulous. "Of course not, Mike, I'm kidding!" she said, poking him, "You should see the look on your face, anyway who <em>does<em> that?"

Zoey showed him her mp3 player, it wasn't as big as an ePod and it didn't have a screen, but she knew where her favourite songs were. She had felt them out on the steel buttons those Friday nights when she needed to drown out the sounds of neighbourhood block parties and curl up with her Guinea pig, Basil. When she'd feel the music course through her head, forcing tears out and feeling the cold of the mp3 player against her chest, (until she had knitted a cover for the device).

But this was different, listening to her music with Mike was great, the songs took on a new quality, and where chords had tugged at her painfully before she found melodious plinks of pure joy. They were so close, each listening to one earbud, Mike would try to follow along with the words before stumbling over them, then they'd look at each other and laugh, rolling onto their backs to look at the clouds in the sky.

"How's a girl supposed to get a decent tan with you guys titterin so loud over there?" came Anne Maria's aggravated voice from the middle of the cave.

"We're just-" Zoey began and then looked at Anne Maria, "Hey, why do you need to spray tan if you're under a skylight?"

Anne Maria shrugged, "A little extra spritz in the mix can't hurt." and she continued her spraying.

"Yeah it could, don't you care about the environment?" Anne Maria raised an eyebrow.

"Well...what about your karma?" asked Zoey.

"What the heck is kar-" but she was cut off by a splashing of water that came down on her from the skylight, it was starting to rain.

"Ey! Watch the tan!" she yelled as she ran to the corner of the cave.

The rain was starting to come down hard and the cave floor was getting wet.

"What do we do?" asked Anne Maria, eyes wide with panic.

"We've got to move the crates and newspaper out of the way." said Mike. Together they moved the stuff next to and into the carts, where it was dry.

As the rain poured harder it splattered over more of the inside of the cave.

Lightning shot up after receiving a splash in the face, yelling, "DID LIGHTNIN WIN?" Puzzled, he held out a hand to taste the water that was streaming down before remarking "Hey...this ain't Zatorade!"

Cameron woke with a start and backed up against the wall, the floor was becoming a puddle at an alarming rate.

* * *

><p>SCOTT<p>

I could hear a distant pattering. Was it raining out there? A thin stream of water at my feet told me it must've been, and pretty hard too. That meant the losers were probably up already, I had to be quick. The tunnel sloped harshly downwards, and I passed a few tempting looking man-made caverns, then one that was caved in, then further down one full of spiky rocks comin down from the ceilin and up from the ground.

There were some crates in there, I'd check back later. Just then the tunnel floor plunged downwards and I tripped. My face hit the dirt and I swore. I reached up and grabbed a rock, to pull myself up, I leaned on it and it gave, I tumbled forwards out of the cave, it was pouring rain but my eyes still hurt from the sunlight. Sunlight!

I grinned as I stood up, squinting around, as soon as my eyes adjusted I checked the power box the plug was attached to, the red light showed it was on, I knew McLean had to have had a backup for the cams that had busted after I'd blown those bomb backpacks, McLean had planned for everything. I noticed the soft orange light that shone from the distant windows of the host's cabin, through the thicket of the woods. I thought to myself, I bet old Chris didn't plan on this, and I yanked the plug from the socket.

Chris McLean and his co-host Blaineley had been lounging around on opposite ends of his cabin before the rain had driven him inside from the hammock where'd he'd just been checking his daily mag, reading the hype for the special that would begin TDROTFM. Now the two of them sat before the fireplace in his spacious living room. Blaineley was sitting with her feet up in the recliner, his recliner, while an intern quietly worked at painting the diva's toenails in a bright cherry red.

Blainley was reading LOOK magazine while sipping hot cocoa. For one moment Chris hoped that one of the little marshmallows floating in it were radioctive, smiling as he imagined a bald Blainley, but he had to admit that Chef had made some good, and unfortunately harmless cocoa as he sipped from his own mug (which had the words '#1 HOST' printed on the side in gold lettering). Blaineley turned to him, pushing the paper in his face, too close for him to read, and said in a gloating voice,

"LOOK Magazine says that Total Drama Revenge of The ForeverMine is gonna be a hit. Says that it was "an executive step in the right direction',

'a move that took some real kiwis'. 'Whoever concocted that prank is headed for a Tony award.'" she read out the critic quotes flippantly.

So, which one of us do you think that is, Stubble Boy?

Chris swiped the magazine away and answered coolly "Whichever one of us has the kiwis, I guess." Blaineley flicked a marshmallow his way which he dodged, grabbing a cushion and raising it in battle stance.

"Hitting a girl?" she said in mock surprise, "That's low, even for you, McLean." She kept sending marshmallows his way while he hit them away with the cushion.

"I don't see any girls." he replied, sneering at her.

"Uh" came Chef's voice as he entered the room eyeing them both, "hate to break this up but we got trouble." he pointed his thumb towards the control room. Something told him something was up. He put his mug in the fridge and stormed into the dark room.

* * *

><p>The sound of the rain echoed around the cavern as they all sat along the poolside. It was cold, and they took turns aiming the heat from Anne Maria's hairdryer on themselves to dry off a bit. Brick had been swimming laps when they'd all fled to the relative dryness of the underground lake cavern so he was especially soaked and especially glad for the warmth. He passed around cans of breakfast to them all and they ate gratefully, except for Lightning who took one look at the can and yelled<p>

"Ain't no protein in this!" holding the can up to his eye he added "Lightnin' can't eat fruit! Lightnin's coach said fruit is the food of losers!" and with that he thrust the can down onto the rock and folded his arms in resolution. After a moment of silence which was punctuated by the sound of his growling stomach he snatched it back up and drank from it, refusing to make eye contact with any of them.

Just then there was a boom of thunder and Jo entered, looking tired and holding a shovel. "Morning, maggots," and in response the the questioning look Brick aimed at her she added, "was just checking out some weak spots where the entrance caved in," she threw down the shovel and sat down, "nothing." She yawned and Brick held out a can of peaches for her. She paused before taking it, then they both looked away, remembering the previous night's argument and eating in silence.

* * *

><p>BRICK<p>

She wouldn't even look at me. It was true, she thought I was pathetic. If there were doors in this cave I'd still be holding them open for her. Switching teams hadn't made a difference. I'd followed my code and rescued the Maggots from those giant moles but all it had earned me from her was a look.

Jo had alot of looks, from 'Back off if you value your kiwis' to 'You die tonight.' She didn't laugh except for when someone got hurt or she'd just left the other team in the dust. She saved her smile for victory. Every time we'd won before she'd look at me with that smile and it'd make me smile too.

The look she'd given me that night wasn't exactly a 'You die tonight.' -It was worse, it made me wonder if she was planning to vote me off. But she wouldn't do that, right? Something told me that she was disappointed, mostly, which meant that she expected something from me. Maybe..- I shook the thought away- ..maybe not.

She'd probably joined forces with Lightning to vote me out, she didn't care about how great we were when we were together- as a team. She didn't care about anyone, it was all just a game to her, and she'd do anything to win. I sat and thought for a moment. Now there was no game, but she hadn't seemed to give in to it like everyone else. I knew Jo, something had to be driving her forwards, was this a game to her too?

* * *

><p>"If that cord's been cut from inside the mine, it's game over, man." said an aggravated and slightly panicked Chris as he checked the various screens and monitors in the control room. "We can't go in there to fix it, it's too risky."<p>

This was not good, billions were on the line. He punched a button and spoke into a microphone "One of you interns better find out why I can't see anything on screens 1 through 17 right now or you're all fired- literally. Like, giant catapult literally."

"But the interns are the only ones who know how to crank up that catapult." said Chef

"Making them turn up the notches on their own pain?" asked Blaineley, Chris rolled his eyes, here was where she'd talk loftily of the lowness of his sadistic inclinations.

"I like your style, McLean. I wonder if we could get them to hold a camera-" she began

"-so we could catch the brutal footage of impact!" he finished, excitedly,  
>"Aww man that'd leave a mark. Nah, too bad cameras break just as easy as interns."<p>

Man was it great to be sharing a headspace with a mind as sadistic as his. Chef was mean, he was harsh, but he didn't get the same kick out of it that he did. He was indifferent to the suffering of the campers, whereas Chris thrived on it, it wasn't just the money, it was the feeling of power. He grinned despite himself, she smiled back villainously.

"What the- how'd he get in?" Chef's gruff voice punctured Chris' joy bubble. He turned to see what Chef was looking at, leaning on the doorpost was the contestant he'd chosen to stir up trouble, Scott.

"You left the door open." he said, "and the fridge" he took a sip out of the mug he was holding "mmm, that's good cocoa."

"I think the question is: how'd you get out?" asked Chris. A million things were running through his mind. If those freaks had found a way out everything was over, and he was finished. How would he explain that to the press.

He could just picture it, the cover of LOOK Magazine with his face on it reading in red letters 'From Fame to Flop, the Fall of Chris McLean. TDROTFM cancelled- details inside.' There was no way the kid would be standing there grinning, would have the audacity to drink from his mug, if he didn't have an angle. The look on his face said _"Give it up, Chris, I've got the edge here."_

"You want me to send him packing, catapult-style?" asked Chef, advancing on the teen, who didn't flinch, instead looking directly at Chris.

"-No" said Chris, holding his hand up to stop Hatchet. He faced the freckled teen. "How much do you know." he tried to sound steady, as unphased as possible as Scott replied "Just that all this Red Zone crap was one big pile of B.S, enough to get all the others to turn on you- and escape." He picked at the dirt from under his fingernails.

Chris couldn't help his voice from wavering when he replied, "Escape? How- how'd you escape?" he walked slowly over to the controls and turned away from Scott, afraid that the panic in his head was showing in his eyes.

"I'd tell you- but first we gotta settle on some terms." said the greasy voiced teen.

"Alright..." replied Chris, clenching his fists and whipping his head around to face Scott. "How about you get back in that mine and I won't catapult your freckled butt all the way back to the dirtfarm."

Scott smiled and put the mug down slowly onto the desk before advancing towards the host.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you...you send me back in there and I'll let all those losers in on what's been going on. And you can bet they'll be outta there before you even find where I got in." He let the words weigh on Chris' mind as he walked over to the blinds and peered outside.

"But... If you let me go in and out whenever I want I'll make sure the rest of em think they're trapped like rats for as long as you want."

"Alright. Fine." said Chris, he reached for his ePhone to have a lawyer draw up a contract. At least the kid hadn't asked for money.

"And,"

Chris' eye twitched as Scott said the A-word, "I want a slice of the pie, too."

Chris and Blaineley exchanged glances.

"A slice of the- No way you little-" Chef put his hand over his mouth and Blaineley stepped forward.

"How much?" she asked, meeting his stare with unreadable calmness.

"Fifty percent ought to do it." he replied.

A muffled shout came from a red-faced furious Chris as he tried to claw his way out of Chef's grasp.

"Kid, you've got ambition, and it's almost enough to make up for that...face." she looked him up and down and continued, filing her nails "But that is alot of money, more than you and your Pappy could probably count." Scott glared.

"And I'm just not so sure we're willing to pay that much just to keep your mouth shut." she added.

"You'll pay it." said Scott in reply, "You'll cough up the fifty percent, no problem. Because you know it's nothing compared to how much cash would be on the line, if I head back there now and spill the beans."

There was a crack as Blaineley accidentally snapped her nail file in half. Chef let go of Chris, who reached for his ePhone.

* * *

><p>LIGHTNING<p>

Everyone was finishing eating when Wierd Voice Guy came into the cave outta nowhere. Jo was all "Where've you been?" and I was like "Yeah and why didn't you tell the Lightnin we were goin tunnel huntin?" then Wierd Voice Guy started battin his eyelids at Lightnin- sayin "Sorry, you just looked so peaceful sleeping, I wouldn't dream of waking you." Lightnin don't judge an all but he ain't so sure about goin explorin in the dark with the guy who admires him in his sleep.

* * *

><p>SCOTT<p>

Sparky asked why I didn't wake him up to go 'tunnel huntin.' I answered Loudmouth and rolled my eyes, but the guy just backed away. I knew the guy was dumb, but couldn't he understand sarcasm?

Of course I couldn't have woken up Sparky, he'd have ruined my whole plan. But things had gone well, as long as these losers were stuck in here I could get my kicks -and my cash. I took another sip of the breakfast Brick had russelled up. It was pretty good, but I was full. I'd stopped off at Chris' fridge again on the way out.

* * *

><p>"Anyways, I was lookin around some of the deeper tunnels. Found this." Scott tossed a bent pickaxe at Jo's feet and sat down as she snatched it up.<p>

"Excellent. This is just what I needed, if we tie this onto the rope and toss it out of the skylight..." she held the axe and ran her finger along its hooked edge.

"We could hitch it onto something pull everyone up and out!" said Brick, getting up and grabbing the rope.

"Ever done it before?" asked Jo.

"I once earned a medal for pulling my troop to safety using a fork for a grappling hook the time we got stuck in a gorge! Earned a mean sprained wrist too." he grinned.

"I dunno, it'll be raining on us the whole time through that hole in the roof." there was a clap of thunder, she looked at him challengingly, "Are you sure you up for it, soldier?''

"Let Lightnin in on the game!" interjected Lightning. "When thunder calls, Lightning answers!"

"Isn't Lightning the one that comes first?" asked Scott

* * *

><p>LIGHTNING<p>

Lightnin_ knows_ he always comes first and Lightnin don't mind havin a fan, it's just that Lightnin prefers his cheerleaders in skirts.

* * *

><p>BRICK<p>

Jo took a moment to look at Lightning but her eyes landed on me and she said, "Sorry Jockstrap, I'm gonna need Brickhouse's skill for this."

"Lightnin's got skill!" cried Lightning indignantly, and he started rapidly sprinting in place, kicking up a cloud of cave dust.

"True," replied Jo, "but this is a job that requires endurance. And Brickhouse here's got that." She gripped my shoulder and I felt a rush of warmth. I was finally being appreciated for my strengths.

"So," she said, smiling, "You up for it?"

"Ready when you are, Ma'am!" I'd forgotten to call her Jo again. But it didn't matter because we were alright again. She grinned and slung the pickaxe over her back.

"That's what I like to hear, cadet." There was a fire of determination in her eyes that I'd missed lately. We left the cavern together and I smiled, still warm where her hand had been.

* * *

><p>SCOTT<p>

I knew I had to get a move on, and fast. I hadn't counted on Jo being so hasty to try to grapple hook outta there, what with the rain and all." I had to tell McLean or it was sayonara to that million dollars, and bye-bye to Pappy's new tractor. I was almost at the entrance of the tunnel that led out when Sparky blocked my way.

"No way Lightnin's missin another trip. Lightnin cannot stand listenin to those guys talk about magic and music for another second! Lightnin's life ain't a Disney movie! Lightnin wants in on some action!"

I felt my eyes narrow as he sprinted in place. I wanted to give him a good sock in the head with the flashlight, but it'd probably just make him dumber, if it was possible. Just then I realized that maybe I could use his dumbness to my advantage.

"Hey, Lightning. I've got to tell you something." I moved in closer for dramatic effect.

"Jo put me on exploration duty with you so I could keep an eye on you, see the others- they think you're _stupid_." I said in a low voice.

"Lightnin _knew_ it! Lightnin wondered at first, because they always laugh at Lightnin- and today they were insensitive to Lightnin's dietary requirements!" he exclaimed.

"Yeah- but**_ I_** don't think you're stupid, Lightning. In fact,**_ I_** think you're the smartest, strongest guy here."

You'd think flattery would work on such an egotistic idiot, but instead he backed away and waved his hands in front of his face.

"Hey, Lightnin don't mind hero worship but Lightnin don't play on that side of the field-"

"What? No- I mean-" I sighed in exhasperation, "Look, Jo's trying to hide something from you, that's why she wants me to keep an eye on you. She doesn't want you to know about... the treasure."

"Treasure? In here?" Lightning swung his head around to look at the cavern walls. "All Lightnin sees are a buncha worthless rocks."

"That's because it's not down here doofus- I mean dude." I pointed across the room to a tunnel I'd checked out earlier. of course I knew there was nothing down there, (just a blocked up cave and a creepy clicking sound from the other side of the wall of rock) but Lightning looked convinced.

"What kind of treasure is it? If it's one of them fake diamonds then Lightnin says Sha-Pass."

"It's gold. Piles and piles of the stuff." I replied. "Jo wants it all to herself, she wanted me to stand guard outside the tunnel so you wouldn't see when I found it, so she and I could split it. But if you and I both look, we increase our chances of getting to it. You'd get fifty percent."

"Wait a minute, Lightnin thought it was gold, not cents!" said Lightning, eyeing me suspiciously.

"No- it means half." I stated.

"How much is that in moneybills, Weird Voice Guy?" he asked, arching an eyebrow.

"I dunno, probably... millions."

* * *

><p>When I left the darkness of the mine and stepped out into the sunlight I panicked a bit. With the rain gone it would be that much easier for them to hit their mark and get outta there.<p>

I hi-tailed it over to Chris's cabin

"Back to eat what's left of my special dessert are you? Well too bad Chef locked the fridge and-"

"No, it's not that. We've got a proble- hey that was yours? I just assumed it was the blonde chick's.."

"Hey man, that was guy cheesecake."

"Low calorie mini cherry cheesecake doesn't exactly-" started Scott

"Hey, it takes dedication if you wanna stay this buff" interrupted Chris pointing at his abs.

"Yeah and especially when you look at his skinny little legs," added Blainelely who appeared and leaned in the doorway, "Actually, how does he even walk?"

"Nobody asked you," said Chris angrily, "at least there aren't whole spreads in LOOK magazine about how big _my_ butt is getting, GAINeley."

"As if I haven't already caught you staring." she said, smirking and swaying her hips.

"What? -If you think that then you're even more delusional than -" he began

"Wait, guys we've got a bigger problem. They're trying to grapple their way outta the mine." I interrupted, remembering why I was there.

"Nah, it's already taken care of, dude. Check it: I got the remote controlled rain cloud up there." replied Chris, folding his arms and smiling, "And I was beginning to think I'd never get to use it again. The thing's set to full storm, you'd have to be an idiot to stand under it."

"Oh yeah? well right now you've got two idiots trying to hitch a pickaxe to something to pull themselves out." replied Scott.

"What the-" said Chris angrily "Don't these losers ever quit?"

"We don't have time for one of your temper tantrums, Chrissy." said Baineley,

"So what do you propose we do?" they both turned to look at me.

It was time for my plan.

* * *

><p>JO<p>

Me and Brickhouse were just about ready to go. The others came up to watch, the rain wasn't spraying around the cave like before, it just streamed straight down, as if the whole storm was focused on us now. We took it in turns, tossing the pickaxe up ad out of that hole in the roof. It took us both some time to get used to throwing it, it wasn't streamlined like the many javelins I'd tossed, and it was way heavier than any grappling hook he'd ever thrown.

We were standing under the intense downpour of rain, feeling the drops sting against our faces, but it was nothing like the sting of defeat, not that I could even remember what _that_ felt like.

The axe sped through the air before landing outside, we'd both feel it hit the rock, then we'd pull at the same time to see if it'd hitched onto anything. When it didn't we'd step out of the way and tug, letting it land on the floor of the cave.

It was tiring work after some time, and I think anyone but Brickhouse would've quit on me by then, but he didn't once let go of the rope. It was excellent, I could tell we were both concentrating on the singular goal of escape. Victory was imminent, we were finally gonna get out of here. The rope was taut and the end was almost out of reach, but we'd do fine as long as I kept my hands on the cadet's, and he kept his on the rope.

* * *

><p>ZOEY<p>

"Don't they get tired ah dat?" asked Anne Maria, applying even more hairspray to her already rock hard pouffe.

"Hey, weren't you just using that on your skin?" asked Cameron, who was also sitting on the crate with me and Mike, watching Brick and Jo.

"Yeah, I used to keep tabs on which one was which, but den I realised dey both do pretty much the same thing." and she continued to apply the spray to, well, everywhere. Cameron looked as if he was gonna say something, but then I guess he changed his mind.

Mike got up and went over to the middle of the cave and picked something up off the wet floor.

"Hey, Zo, if this rope thing doesn't work out," Mike said as he showed her a small yellow flower, "we could grow this under the skylight and and climb our way out."

He laughed awkwardly, and I smiled up at him.

"It must've blown in here cause of the storm." he said, sitting down. "I... want you to have it." his voice was kinda unsteady as he went on, "It's just that when that flower.. in your hair-not that there's anything wrong with it- it's really pretty!-I mean- when it wilts you can, you know, put this in."

"Oh! oh, no, Mike see this flower is made of silk." I indicated by pulling on one of the petals, "so it won't wilt at all."

Mike looked like he wanted to sink under the ground just then.

"But," I said as I got up, "I really like it, Mike, it's beautiful," he quit panicking and gave a small smile, "and once we get out of here the first thing I'm gonna do is find a nice pot to grow it in."

"Really?" he asked, his eyes wide.

"Of course!" I said and he beamed. It was so sweet of him to pick it up for me, he'd got his shirt all wet. I squeezed him into a hug and we stayed like that for a while, I rested my head on his chest and he ran his hand gently along my arm. Around us were the sounds of the rain cascading down and the echoes of dripping in the cave and the 'clink' sound of the axe as it landed on the roof again and again.

* * *

><p>SCOTT<p>

I stood at the foot of a huge tree. A tree at the edge of the forest that was high enough to overlook the mine. A tree that was covered in small yellow flowers, yep, this was it. I could just make out the intern sitting at the top of it holding the remote that controlled the storm above the skylight. Chris had given me all the tools I needed.

"You sure you can pull this off, because it sounds like the kind of thing I could get sued over. And that is **not** happening." he'd said.

"Trust me, it'll work." I'd answered.

Now it was time, I got ready, and waited.

* * *

><p>BRICK<p>

"We got something!" shouted Jo. If she hadn't been holding tight to the rope she'd probably be pumping her fist in the air like she did every time we'd won. We'd definitely got the axe caught on something, it was probably a nearby tree. The axe had got caught between two branches and had tugged the tree towards us. But trees were not that flexible, and now it was pulling back. Jo held onto my hands and I felt them go numb. I noticed that her hands were pretty soft for someone with that kind of grip. The others were cheering from the side of the cave, as we pulled down on the rope together, trying to keep it from slipping out of grip and catapulting away into the forest. We dragged ourselves backward, one step at a time, and Jo signaled for Cameron to come climb up.

"Me?" he said pointing to himself.

"You're the lightest, plus when you get up there you can hitch the axe to something closer and the rest of us can go up." said Jo, through gritted teeth.

Cameron got up and walked over to us, he looked like he was calculating in his head. He seemed to find the answer and nodded. I bent my knee so he could climb up but just then there was a terrible sound from deep within the mine.

"!"

Someone was screaming for help. Either Lightning or Scott was down there, and it sounded like they were being attacked.

"What was dat?" said Anne Maria, sounding frightened. The echo of the scream filled the cave.

"Whatever it is, we can deal with it_ after_ we're out of here." said Jo, "Move it or lose it, Stringbean!" Cameron hesitated.

"Jo, we've got to go down there." I said.

"No, _we've_ got to get out of here." said Jo, she was frowning now. "That means_ you_ better not let go of this rope, _maggot_!"

"I- I have to, Jo. He could be really hurt, he could be-" I trailed off before shouting, "Mike, take over for me! Do that Vito thing. It makes you stronger!" I called over to Mike, who freaked out on the spot.

"I can't! I mean- I" he looked at Zoey with a pained expression.

The was another scream, the air inside the cave vibrated and I felt cold blood rush through me.

Mike came over to the rope and took off his shirt. He gasped and I could tell it was Vito who grabbed the rope.

"**Brick!**" yelled Jo, she looked at me, I'd never seen her look like that, she was angry but her eyes were intense with desperation.

"I'm sorry, Jo." I let go of the rope and ran full speed out of the cave. I followed the sound deeper and deeper down into the darkness.

* * *

><p>SCOTT<p>

They'd finally managed to hook the axe onto a branch of the tree. Now I could get to work. The tree was arched towards the cave, they must've been pulling pretty hard. They might actually be able to get out if I took too long.

* * *

><p>"Ey dis is one heavy car, but it ain't nothin the Vito can't handle." said Vito.<p>

"Just pull!" shouted Jo, "_You_, climb! Go! Go! Go!"

Cameron hastened up onto the rope.

"Hey, dis ain't the TurnPike," said Vito, looking around the room, he swung around when he saw Anne Maria, who had been staring at him

"Ey, babe! You just checkin out the merchandise or you lookin to make a purchase?" He let go of the rope and flexed his muscles.

"Ah!" yelled Jo as she struggled to keep hold of the rope.

"Vito, you dope, the rope, grab the rope!" Anne Maria shouted as he ambled over to her and slung his arm around her.

"Ey the Vito will grab anything you want, just come over here a minute." he moved in for a kiss.

"Mike!" cried Zoey indignantly, getting up.

"Get back over here!" shouted Jo, she was practically being tugged up by the tension of the rope.

"Jo, by my calculations, if you don't let go we'll be shuttled out of here at such a fast rate we'll be crushed when we hit the ground!" said Cameron.

"I **won't** let go!" she spoke through gritted teeth. Her eyes were shut against the raindrops that pelted down onto her. Her knuckles were white and she dug her shoes into the floor.

Cameron jumped off, fearfully.

"Vito, get _off_ me!" said Anne Maria as she pushed Vito off her and pointed at the rope, "Stop screwin around and help Jo get us outta here!"

"Mike!" cried Zoey, sounding scared.

Vito gasped and Mike called out in panic, "Zoey?"

There was a loud crack from outside. Alot of things happened at once. Jo faltered as her foot caught on a rock and the rope whipped upwards, flinging Jo with it, she crashed against the cave ceiling and fell straight down to the cave floor.

She let out a shout, a terrible cry of wasted energy, of frustration, of defeat. Then there was a loud creak and the sound of something swooping through the air. There was a thunderous crash as the large thick trunk of a tree landed on the cave roof and lay there, blocking the skylight.

* * *

><p>Scott breathed in the forest air as he looked up at the job he'd done. The massive tree lay covering what had been the skylight of the mine cavern. He stood with one foot propped on the jagged stump, dug a few mini cheesecakes out of his pocket and nommed them. Then he slung the chainsaw over his shoulder to take it back to Chris.<p>

* * *

><p>BRICK<p>

It hadn't been as bad as it could have. There was no sign of Scott. Lightning had been digging in one of the deeper tunnels. It had turned out to lead to a cavern full of scorpions. I guessed that he thought he could get away from them by climbing up onto some rocks, because that was where I'd found him, passed out, and with scorpions all over. I had to move quick, there was a glittering black sea of them all around, no way to do this but to run right through. I got stung on the knee, it felt like being burnt and I cried out. I picked him up and carried him combat style. A few of them fell off of him and onto me and I tried to shake them off. I got stung a few more times but I clenched my fists hard and tried not to cry out again, I didn't want the others to think I was in trouble and come down here. Now that I'd saved Lightning my thoughts went back to Jo. Hopefully finally getting out of the cave would be enough to make her forget I'd let go of the rope.

* * *

><p>SCOTT<p>

McLean and Blondie were shocked I'd managed to pull it off, maybe even a little impressed. I wanted to milk Chris's good mood for a while and get some use outta that hot tub of his- but I had to get back to the mine fast, before they went looking for me.

When I eventually got back to the cave everyone looked at me.

"Where've you been?" shouted Jo. She was clutching one hand, which hung limply at the wrist. The Jarhead was daubing water onto Sparky, and they both had a lot of purple welts on their skin. Everyone looked pretty upset, and Zoey was sitting against a crate looking as if she might cry. This was good, they'd given up. I pretended to limp as I walked in.

"I was down in the tunnels, 'member?" I said.

"Didn't you hear Lightning scream for help?" asked Brick.

"Lightnin did **not **scream, he was shoutin- Lightnin was _enraged_!" said Lightning in protest.

"I heard him, I tried to go help but Sparky's shouting nearly brought down a whole wall, my leg was pinned under a rock and I didn't get out in time to help."

It wasn't the best answer but Jo looked like she was too tired to argue. Brick continued to watch me doubtfully.

"Why didn't you call for help?" he asked. Yeah, he definitely thought something was up.

"I knew I could get out myself, so I didn't want you to come looking for me instead of him." I said quickly, putting on my best sorry face.

* * *

><p>LIGHTNING<p>

Lightnin could've taken those scorpions, he just fell asleep! Probably because Lightnin didn't get his DPA this morning- But Lightnin's got to admit, Weird Voice Guy was bein pretty cool. First he let Lightnin in on the treasure hunt, then he tried to look for Lightnin even at the risk of death by rocks. Lightnin ain't sayin he needs to be rescued- Nuh-uh, but now Lightnin's startin to wonder who really is on Team Lightnin. All this time I thought Joe was my main man when really he was tryina make Lightnin look like a fool. Lightnin ain't blind, he can see that dude is sneaky. Army Guy came back with a pot of lima beans, Sha-Finally, some protein up in here!

Everyone was lookin upset- The punks were actin like they weren't even hungry, more protein for Lightnin! Weird Voice Guy took out the ePhone and everyone went around him to look. Lightnin thinks B must have been some kinda undercover fool. Who would go out an buy a phone that does everything but make calls?

* * *

><p>CAMERON<p>

I used B's ePhone to access Sierra's fan website. The page was colourful and cluttered with pictures and polls, it was very difficult to navigate. Everyone leaned in to look at the screen, which set our faces in a purple glow.

"Since when is Lightnin's name 'Lightening'? How could you get Lightnin's name wrong?"shouted Lightning.

"Yeah, 'specially because you never stop sayin it." said Scott, eyeing him in annoyance.

"Try the chatroom, Cameron." said Zoey.

Unfortunately entering the chatroom required a log registering process.

"What do I use for a username?" asked Cameron.

"Gee, how about 'Cameron'?" said Scott.

**The username 'Cameron' is taken, suggested available names: **

**Cameron1994**

**xxCameronlvrxx **

**SexiCameron**

"Outta the way." said Jo, pushing him aside and punching in some letters.

**Welcome to Sierra's Total Drama Fansite, 'Camerun'**

"We're in." she said.

They entered the chatroom in the middle of what seemed to be a heated debate about whether Lightning should be paired with Dawn or Scott.

**IceSakura:Lightning and Dawn have got it goin onnn! Come one, did you see them share a romantic fist bump in the Seagull Shooting Challenge? IT'S TRUE WUV!1!**

"Sha-Please," said Lightning, rolling his eyes, "Lightnin just held out his fist, Creepy Girl hit it straight up, girl probably saw it comin- you know she got them crazy future-seein eyes."

**Loco4noco: No way, Lightning/Scott just makes sense. The guy obviously has issues telling the difference between boys and girls. Methinks he's playing for the other team ;D or he's just, you know, blind.**

"Lightnin don't have a problem with his eyes! That's what Lightnin's optometrist said, but there was no way Lightnin was gonna be some kinda glasses wearin fool. You know who wears glasses? Steven Hawking. A.K.A the world's lamest dude. You know who don't wear glasses? Reggie White, the world's official coolest dude! Besides, Lightnin's coach said he didn't need no glasses, said he'd be fine as long as he kept his eyes on the endzone and kept runnin!"

They watched as Lightning punctuated the end of this rant by zooming back and forth across the cave, Jo shook her head and turned back to the screen.

**DJMama: I dunno, Lightning strikes me as bisexual.**

"What the-? Let Lightnin get one thing straight- LIGHTNIN IS LIGHTNIN-SEXUAL. Overcome with a love for Lightnin, and a need for speed! Sha-Single!" shouted Lightning.

"Sha-Siddown already" said Scott

"Quick, tell these idiots were trapped down here." said Jo

"Mention we're still alive!" said Zoey earnestly.

"No duh" said Jo

"Suggest they eighty-six the Red Zone Alert." added Brick

"Tell them to hurry and get help" said Mike

"Yeah, cause we're runnin outta protein!" yelled Lightning as he looked into an empty can of beans.

"We're runnin outta air!" added Anne Maria frantically.

"What?" asked Jo, inhaling and exhaling, "I can breathe fine."

"Air, you know... as in air-o-sol" she shook her can of Spraytan, "Pfft, not air. You can live fuh like three days widout air. Three days lookin like dat-" she pointed a thumb at Zoey, "I'd pull the trigger myself."

**Camerun: This is Cameron Thomas of Total Drama Revenge of the Island. We're trapped in the abandoned mine on the island. We're all still alive, Brick, Anne Maria, Lightning, Zoey, Jo, Scott, Mike, and I are stuck down here.**

**IceSakura: What? I haven't seen episode 7 yet! There's a mine on the island? Wtf**

**-*MrsCody entered the chat-**

**DJMama: Ugh Godmod is here .**

**Loco4Noco: Trapped in a mine lol XD**

***MrsCody: LOCO4NOCO YOU MUST USE SPOILER TAGS NEXT TIME YOU REVEAL INFORMATION ABOUT UPCOMING EPISODES  
><strong>

**DJMama: They gonna be stuck in a mine for reals? Aw man next episode's gonna be sweeeeet ;D**

**Camerun: No, listen, I am Cameron. The final eight contestants are trapped in an abandoned mine on the East of the island. I need your help.**

**Loco4Noco: You need people for a roleplay? Can I be Anne Maria? XD Lol jk jk**

**DJMama: I know right, I hate dat ho. :( Can't trust her as far as you can throw her, which probably ain't that far cause of dat ass.**

"Hey!" said Anne Maria, looking upset.

***MrsCody: DJMAMA YOU ARE NOT TO USE INAPPROPRIATE LANGUAGE THIS IS YOUR LAST WARNING  
><strong>

**IceSakura: I dunno, at least Anne Maria stood up for Brick, you know who you really can't trust though, and he's probably the most two-faced villain this show's ever had.**

**DJMama: For reals. And to think my dog is also named [_]. It sux because now I always gotta feed him and pick up his craaap :( FML!  
><strong>

**-DJ Mama was booted from the chat-**

"It's a spoiler tag, click on it, Stringbean!" said Jo urgently. But just as Cameron moved to reveal the blanked out name the phone was dropped with a smash onto the cave floor, the batteries fell out and rolled some way away.

"Whoops." said Scott "Let me just pick those up." but as he ambled over to pick them up his foot somehow slipped, causing the batteries to roll rapidly right into the crescent shaped crack in the floor that had been uncovered when they moved the crates, the batteries made a clattering sound as they fell down.

"Oh no!" said Cameron, running over to peer down the gap. He could see the batteries, glinting just out of reach. "Who could they have been talking about?" he wondered "Dawn? No... they were describing a male contestant. It had to be Scott."

"It's all my fault!" said Scott, covering his face with his hands, "I'm so sorry you guys!"

"It's alright, those jerks didn't even listen to us anyways." said Jo, who resolved herself to sitting on a crate.**  
><strong>

**The sun set and the eight teenagers were plunged into an almost total darkness.**

* * *

><p>BRICK<p>

After we ate I looked over at Jo. I hadn't seen what had happened to her, but she kept rubbing her right hand hard, her wrist was swollen and her palm was red and raw. She realised I was looking and tucked it into her pocket. I decided to sit next to her on the crate.

"I think you've got a sprained wrist, Jo."

"Oh, really, maggot?" she said sarcastically "I must not have noticed- cause I was too busy being ditched right when we were on our way out of here." It was like she was fighting me with words! She spoke so fast and jabbed at the word 'ditched'.

"Hey, " I said, getting defensive, "You _know_ I had to save Lightning, I couldn't just leave a teammate behind!"

"Really, Maggot? Then what am I?" she said, looking at me challengingly, her face red and furious.

"You're my-" I paused, I knew the answer that made sense was 'teammate' but something told me that wasn't the answer that Jo wanted. There weren't even teams anymore, why'd she keep using that word? Before I'd thought that is was all just a game to her. But maybe she just didn't know how to look at things outside of the language of competition. Maybe in her mind the word 'teammate' had taken on another meaning. Maybe 'teammate' was the closest word she had to 'friend.' Jo was my friend, right? I definitely liked her, I mean I liked being around her more than anyone else here, even when she got mad. I liked the times we competed as much as the times we worked together cause at those times we were closer than anything. Nothing could break that kind of connection between us, whether it was our eyes that were locked in determination or our thumbs pressed against one another in opposition, or her hands on mine in restless pursuit of escape. But before I responded I realized, _I_ had broken the connection._ I_ had let go of the rope, what had that meant to Jo? I had waited too long to reply and Jo took my silence as an answer.

"That's what I thought." she said, and she stormed away to the wall of rock and lay down, leaving me silent and aching- not from the scorpion stings or the rope burn, it was much worse- like my insides had been scooped out so all I could feel was the coldness of the night. I hated it.

I looked at her outline in the moonlight, I knew she must've been exhausted, but she seemed too restless to sleep. She was curled against the cold, with her knees tucked close to her chest, as if to protect her hand. It was strange how fragile she looked.

I realized I hadn't injured a teammate. I'd hurt a girl.

* * *

><p>MIKE<p>

Cameron seemed pretty bummed out after we lost the batteries, so I started talking to him to cheer him up, and also because Zoey seemed too mad to talk to me just yet.

"Mike, you've still been having problems controling your MPD." said Cameron, taking a pill out of his medicine bottle and taking it along with a gulp of water he'd filled a can with.

"Yeah, I know, it might as well stand for Mike's Personal Disaster." I knew he was going to try to talk about my problem again, especially after today's catastrophe.

"Hey, how come you need to take pills?" I asked, partly to change the subject, then I wondered if it was a sensitive topic for him.

"Oh, I've got an immunity problem." said Cameron, matter-of-factly "Not severe, but a good enough excuse for my mom to keep me basically under lock and key, and a close eye." he continued, "I'm fine as long as I take my pills." he finished.

"Oh," I said, and before i could think of something else to ask he continued,

"Mike, I've noticed that Vito's different from your other personalities."

"Tell me about it, he's so obnoxious..and he keeps messing things up between me and-" I began, looking over at Zoey who was sitting on the cave floor with her back against a crate, listening to music on her mp3 player. I knew it wasn't like earlier, now she was using it to drown out any thoughts of me.

"No, not that, I mean he seems like the hardest one to control, and I've noticed you take much longer on average to get back to Mike after he's taken over."

"Yeah," I replied, "it's like he's beating me up- inside my head!"  
>"Well, Mike, remember what I said before, how each personality is your way of coping with a traumatic experience, well I estimate that whatever created Vito must have been the worst."<p>

I felt my breath quicken and I steadied myself. The memory was coming back, quick flashes of it. I had the strong urge to run away, not to actually get up and run, but just to get away from this, from facing it. I knew Vito couldn't take over as long as my shirt was off.

"I can understand how panic or frustration can trigger a switch, like when Svetlana or Chester show up, but I'm not so sure how putting on or taking off an article of clothing like when you switch to Manitoba or Vito, could evoke those memories. I'm not saying you have to tell me, but I think if you want to win control of your mind back, and win over Zoey too, the first thing you need to do is talk to her about it."

"But that's the whole problem, listen, everyone who's ever found out has either called me a schizo and run away, or called me a schizo and punched me in the face." I said, getting frustrated.

"Well," he began, and then raised his voice a bit and stood up, "Well now you've got a friend, and this one isn't going anywhere- or punching you in the face-anytime soon. Now, go over there and talk to Zoey before...before I change my mind about that last part!" he said, practically pushing me towards the crate that Zoey was sitting behind. I guess he was pretty determined about this fixing my problem thing, he wasn't going to give up on me... so maybe I could give it a try.

* * *

><p>ZOEY<p>

My eyes were closed, but I knew it was Mike who had sat beside me.

"Don't tell me, you just got really caught up in character, right?" I said, hearing the bitterness in my voice.

"Yes, I mean-...no, it's not what you think." he said, looking down at his shoes.

"You mean you weren't just making out with Anne Maria _again_, Mike- or should I say _Vito_." I could feel my voice crack but I forced the tears away. He opened his mouth to say something, but whatever it was I didn't want to hear it, I realized I was scared, I was scared that he'd say the magic words and I'd forgive him again, just for it to hurt like this again the next time. I wanted to _scream_.I shouted at him.

"I don't even know who you _are_, Mike!"

the next think i knew he was holding me gently. I pushed at him but he only pulled me closer to his chest. I could hear his heart beating.

he was silent for a moment before he said, "You're right, Zoey. I wasn't being totally honest before. I really like you, I like talking to you, you're an open book, Zoey... and you told me lots of stuff that must've been hard to say, it meant alot to me, it meant that you trust me. The problem is...there are things about me that are really really hard for me to talk about...stuff that usually scares other people away and I guess it might be a bit harder for me to trust you. No wait- that came out wrong- Not that I don't trust you it's just- I meant-"

He had stumbled over the words and was trying to pick himself back up, it was pretty cute.

"I know what you mean, Mike." I said, and I gave him a squeeze of a hug. "You mean you trust me enough to want to tell me, even if you're kinda scared to."

"..Yeah, exactly." he said, and I felt him relax a bit.

I pulled away from him and looked him in the eyes, more seriously now, "But you definitely will tell me, as soon as you're ready, right?" He gave a small smile and replied, "Of course, Zoe."

"And try to keep your lips away from Anne Maria until then, will you?" I added, I winked but he didn't see, he looked doubtfully at the ground for a moment before turning to me and nodding resolutely. He stood, then he took my hand and pulled me up too.

"So, do you want to put this thing in the ground or not?" he asked, brandishing the small yellow flower. I recognised it as the same kind that grew on tall trees at the park in my town, except that those ones had four petals and this one had five. I guessed that it was another case of the many wonders of toxic waste.

"Are you kidding? Give it two days and we'll be climbing this tree out of here." I said, following him to the middle of the cave.

* * *

><p>"Alright, that pit-sniffer took the last of my cheesecake, how am I supposed to stay buff?" said an angry Chris, storming out of the kitchen and sitting in the recliner he'd had installed in the deep end of his hot tub. He flicked on the widescreen plasma TV on the ceiling and sulked.<p>

"I think the bigger problem we've got here is with the pie, not your damn cakes." said Chef gruffly from the other end of the hot tub.

"There's pie?," began Chris, looking hopeful, "Oh- you mean the cash. Aw man, now we gotta split our 40 percent by 50 percent, and that just leaves us with alot of cents." Chef responded

"But we won't have to fifty our forty at all if we eighty-six the sixty. Get what i'm gettin at?"

"Chef, even a calculator wouldn't have gotten that. What are you _saying_, man?" asked Chris in frustration.

"I'm sayin we push Blondie off this gravy train, so you can get back _on_ it." he replied.

"Awesome! But how do we get her to stand on the edge of the thousand-foot-cliff?" said Chris, clearly excited.

"No, not a literal push, it'd be too messy, we gotta handicap her." when Chris started to make a shoving gesture Chef added, "I mean we gotta make her an unfit host, like the contract says: if one o you can't host for whatever reason, the other one gets to take over. I'm thinkin we could do somethin to mess with the girl's voice."

"You may be onto something, Chef." said Chris, he thought for a moment and then rubbed his hands together maniacly, "Yeah, Ms. Thing needs to learn that being the Host with the most takes more than just a pretty face and killer assets."

Chef arched an eyebrow at him.

"Not her- ew, no I'm talkin about me- I meant I don't just have looks, I've also got mad announcing style. And that's something Mildread won't even be able to fake once she loses her pipes."

"And once she'd out of the way, we can figure out what to do to freckle-head." added Chef and the two of them laughed in unison, but not so loud as to awaken the sleeping beauty across the hall, and alert her to their plot.

* * *

><p>MIKE<p>

Zoey and I had stayed up later than the others, we'd talked, we'd listened to music, and we'd planted that flower right under the former skylight. We couldn't see the stars except for a little patch, and we lay under it now, slipping into an easy silence.

I began to think, Zoey was the nicest girl I'd ever met, and Cameron had figured out the truth about me and still stuck around. Maybe Zoey would too?

"Hey, Zoey?" I spoke into the quiet.

"Mhm?" came her sleepy reply

"Have you ever had stuff happen to you- really bad stuff- ..stuff that made you feel like you were..splitting apart?" I asked, after a moment she replied

"Like your heart's been broken into pieces..yeah." she shut her eyes hard and I could tell there was some pain there, whether it had been there for long or it was freshly inflicted, I wasn't sure.

"Yeah, but- more like... more like your mind's been broken in..into fragments." I lay the words out careful as cards on a table.

"Mm?" came her voice again, softer this time. She didn't understand, but her mind was open.

Then the words came out, tumbled out, like they had gained a momentum of their own.

"Well... some bad stuff like that happened to me and I've...I've got Multiple Personality Disorder."

She was silent for a moment, and then she snored softly. I rolled over and looked at her, she was asleep.

_Well, Mike, you'd managed to tell her the truth without puking or switching, maybe next time you can do it while she's awake._

_Man, she was cute like this. Her lips were parted slightly and her chest rose and fell as she inhaled and exhaled the night air._

_My gaze floated over to the small yellow flower that swayed gently on its green stalk, illuminated by the singular column of moonlight that filtered into the cave since the skylight had been blocked by a tree trunk. My eyes closed, and I also fell asleep._

* * *

><p>Well that's where we end it for now folks, tune in next week for Chapter 4 of TDROTFM<p>

Will Mike tell Zoey the terrible truth?

Is Blaineley about to be usurped by her cohabiting co-host?

Will Lightning come to terms with his homosexuality and or poor vision?

Is Jo gonna put some ice on that?

Will Chris restock on mini cheesecakes or brave the dreaded treadmill?

and the question on everyone's mine..d :

**Are they ever getting out of there alive? **

Most of these questions will be answered in Chapter 4 of TDROTFM.


	4. Make Mine a whisky on the rocks

So here it is the **_very long_** awaited chapter 4 of **Total Drama Revenge of the ForeverMine! **I hope it makes up for the wait in its sheer length!

It would have been up much earlier if my Dad didn't take me on tours, his girlfriend didn't make me do chores, and if my mum had paid the internet company

Last time:  
>Scott made himself a million-dollar deal that involved keeping his escape tunnel a secret. Brick and Jo tried to grapple their way out, which was great, till Scott put a stop to their plans. Now Brick is grappling with guilt and Jo's hand is useless ; as useless as their attempt to get help from their fans (three guesses whose fault that was)<br>Of course, it was Zoey and Mike who found a patch of brightness in the darkness of the cave, and stuck a plant under it, and prepared for another drama-filled day in the ForeverMine!

* * *

><p>It was an angry Chris who answered the door to his room early that morning, hair disheveled and stubble particularly stubbly.<br>"What? There better be a good reason why I'm up before seven." Said Chris, " And by good, I mean it involves a decent amount of cash."  
>"It's here" said Chef, handing him a small box.<br>"This is it?" said Chris, ripping open the box and holding up a small vial full of glowing yellow liquid, "dude, this just looks like lemonade."  
>"It ain't. When the interns were hookin up some cameras bout a week ago, one of 'em got attacked by some fireflies."<br>"_Mutant_ fireflies?" asked Chris, eagerly.  
>"Yep. Well one flew into his mouth and somethin happened to his voice." said Chef, "Poor guy's been talkin like a chipmunk ever since. What you got there is the venom. It's real concentrated so you ain't gonna need much."<br>That put a smile on Chris's face.  
>"So what you're saying is this stuff's like helium with a bad attitude?" he asked<br>"Nah, helium wears off." responded Chef, "This stuff's _permanent_."  
>It was a happy Chris who went back to bed, his head full of the thought of what would happen tomorrow when he and Blaineley went down to the docks to intro the show. He smiled imagining the look on her face when her voice came out even more shrill and annoying than usual, how she'd clap her hands over her mouth in surprise and get that look of dawning comprehension.<br>_Buh-bye, Blaineley_.

* * *

><p><strong>ANNE MARIA<strong>

I musta woke up pretty early cos nobody else was up. Except Scott, oh wait, he was probably off lookin fo' trouble again.  
>I looked at my arm, I was about a shade lighter than a tangerine! Oh yeah, I definitely needed a tan. I checked under da skylight there was some dumb plant where I'd usually be lyin down right now. I went over to kick it outta da way but dere was hardly any light anyways. I figure the sun musta gotten kinda wet from all da rain yesterday. Ugh, yesterday was a real mess- no wonder everybody was sleepin'. Even Brick was sleepin like a rock. Guess we wouldn't be havin breakfast for a while. I went to bed pretty early, seein as I didn't have anyone blabberin to me all night like Ms. Goodie-Goodie over dere.<br>None of dese guys were really talkin to me. I didn't come on dis show to make friends - I mean I got plenty girlfriends back home, but I didn't tink everyone on dis show would be so _blah_. It's like all dey wanna do is run around doin challenges.

-Dey don't even sing like dey do on TV! Must be some kinda lip syncing I guess. Anyways, there was always somebody, usually Blondie, pushin me around tryin to make me break a leg (- or even a nail!) climbin some cliff or chasin a freaky giant bunny or somethin. There still hadn't been any challenges dat played to my strengths, except maybe the diving challenge, I mean I live by da beach, I'd have done great, but I hated to admit it, Blondie was right, those old school suits would have cramped my shoulders and my style. Definitely were more her speed.

She only made me do stuff when she needed a human sheild, I'd figured out dat was why she was always callin me Helmet Head. Didn't dat girl call anybody by their real names? I guess she just called you by what use she could put you to -if there was any. It was probably her way of makin sure we knew she was here to win and not make friends. I guess I could get dat, I mean nobody in the competition was ever up for kickin back or havin fun, not that bein stuck in here was any better- dere weren't any challenges and all but everybody was bummed out. I was really startin to miss my girlfriends.  
>I knew the 'rents probably got the news I was pushin up daisies by now, but they were probably too busy fightin over everythin but dinner (that's was the only time they quit yellin, cause they were too busy chewin Ma's chicken tetrazzini, which thankfully was a process that took some time an effort).<br>They'd probably get over me bein gone anyways, Dad had his 'coworker' Catalina Ricci to drive him around in her hot pink fiat and Ma had Julio Visconti (the hunky pilot who starred in her favourite soap "Flying Into Your Arms") playin on the TV 24/7.

The only time they paid any attention to me was if I got in too late and was too tipsy to shimmy up the drainpipe into my bedroom (they locked the door after 11 p.m) or if some guy I broke up with was dumb enough to do that thing where you throw rocks at a girl's window and play loud music on ya boombox to be all romantic n crap.  
>-That ain't gonna get you a date, ya mook, all it did was get dis one guy a black eye from my Dad and a bill for the broken window, and a trip to the police station (they were just gonna tell him to turn down the music but after he pulled a blade on the guy that turned out to be a nail file, they cuffed him and took him to the slammer.) After he got out we got back togetha though. It was so nice to try and impress me like dat, even though it was real idiot move.<br>I was startin to really miss home, especially the beach.  
>I headed down to the lake that we had down there. I took the long way down, the way Scott had shown us. I had to admit for such a pasty freckly creep, he wasn't a bad guy. I mean even though it was a long way it sure beat jumping off the track, I don't think my hair could take any more o dat kind of abuse.<br>I stepped into the cave, it was pretty huge, and dark, the lake was deep blue and wide and dere were gray rocks on the shore. I took my shoes off. The ground was all gainy and cold- not like the beach back home, where the sun was hot and the water was warm, and sometimes it'd spray your way and it felt good, you know? I used to wanna stay like that for ages but saltwater makes your makeup run, and once your makeup runs, so do the guys. So I'd just kick back on a beach mat or check out the talent around the shake shack.

Back in the day I'da been makin sandcastles- man I was good at dat. I used to like watchin beach volleyball too, all the hottest guys were out there- but they just used to laugh if I asked to play. That was before I filled out and pumped up to my full hotness potential. -Look at me now, I'm one of the hottest chicks under the Jersey sun! Now when I head out to the shore those guys aint turnin heads to see where the_ ball_'s at, -they're lookin at _me_, and dis time I'm turnin em down when they ask me to play; can't risk breakin dese nails playin v-ball.  
>Sometimes when things are a little slow at the bar though I wish I could give it a try. One time after this chick Stella Spumoni spread a nasty rumour bout me, I socked her in da mouth so hard they had to put her braces back in. Yeah I always had a good arm- not half bad for a girl who's 4 foot 8,<br>I knew I'd probably be able to clobber those guys on the V-ball court. But guys don't go fuh girls like dat. I'm no scientologist, but if there's one thing I do know it's guys, and dey got egos as big as their fauxhawks, and twice as fragile. Its your job as the chick to protect dat, kinda like hairgel when you put it in right, you gotta keep em from fallin apart, make em feel like men. It's the guy's job to keep other guys off of you, and to show you he likes you, without gettin all sappy about it.  
>It realized I was alone, it was real quiet and everything was still, like, even the water on the lake. I was seriously missin all the crazy sounds of the beach, even those stupid birds. Man I hated seagulls, even before I started tanning I didn't use sunblock, cause I knew those UV rays the guys on da news were always talkin about were just a myth, and also cause it reminded me of gull crap.<p>

Icky and white, that's what they called pasty chicks on the Shore, -it hurt- but I mean how do you expect anyone to respect ya if you don't respect yourself? An how do you respect yourself if you don't even show your body some TLC? (Tan, Lustre and Cosmetics)  
>I shivered. Man it was cold in here, the air wasn't movin and it was kinda gettin to me. I waded out into the lake. This was no way to live, sure the food was better than Chef's slop but the only way you could smell civilized was to take a swim and wash out your clothes.<br>When I came out I was even colder than before. I knew later I could dry my clothes off with the hairdryer but for now I'd kill for some Jersey heat.

Of course there was always Vito for dat, he was the best kisser I'd ever kissed, and he was tough, and he was hot, even though he wasn't the brightest bulb in the box. I felt so right with him, he even took on Brick and Scott for me in that snow an ice challenge, I didn't know if it was just showin off or what, but it made me feel gorgeous, I had nothing to compare it to...kinda like the warm feelin you get when you tip back a piña colada, and twice as sweet.  
>That's how it was with Vito, we just understood eachother...then why did he have to keep pretending he was this 'Mike' guy? I didn't even really talk to Vito but I felt like I knew him wayy better than Mike, the guy spent more time trying to cover things up than show off. Like how he kept those gorgeous abs out of view with that boring blue shirt. I dunno, part of me wondered if maybe he thought I wasn't good enough for him, he hung out wit Ms. Goodie Goodie, and she hated me, so I guess it figured. Whatever it was he'd better sort it out quick, cause Anne Maria ain't nobody's second choice.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>SCOTT<strong>

Things had been going great ever since I'd cut that deal with Chris and Blaineley. While the rest of those doofuses thought they were trapped I knew I could get out whenever I felt like it, which was a lot. Hey, Chris's door was always open to me- and the ones that weren't were pretty easy to pick.  
>After I took a shower (and man did I need one, tunnel hunting was seriously dirty work.) I figured now would be as good a time as any to start thinking of a way to do summore damage. The others might still be pretty suspicious after last night's incident with Sparky.<br>(It wasn't my fault, what kind of moron took on a whole cave full of scorpions, although he wouldn't have been near it if he hadn't believed my B.S about there being gold down there.)  
>I figured I should bring back something 'helpful' but something you could find in a mine.<br>I went into Chris's shed. Man there was loads of stuff in here, the guy really was nuts; canons, electroshock chairs, Celine Dionne music store standee, and loads and loads of explosives. I took a stick of dynamite from a big pile that was spilling over, I stashed it in my back pocket, just in case. I grabbed a handful of some twine that was wrapped around a stick and a handful of other junk. Then I looked around for something I could use to do some real damage.

* * *

><p><strong>MIKE<strong>

Brick was still asleep so I decided I'd head down to the food stock cave and figure out what we could find for breakfast. There weren't that many in there, and alot of them were dented and spoiled. I was beginning to wonder what we'd do for food once we ran out. I got up, carefully so as not to wake Zoey, and walked along the cart track. This was the track that extended over the underground lake, but first it plunged into a dark tunnel. I stopped about halfway down the tunnel, where it was darkest. I made a right into a tunnel that was half blocked by a boulder. Here the flashlight only illuminated about an arms-length ahead of me. This tunnel was obviously man-made, it had some wooden stairs that took you down into complete darkness. You had to be careful because there were a lot of pitfalls and torches mounted on the walls and -Ow!  
>I'd been banged in the head by a torch bracket and I dropped my flashlight, which went out the moment it hit the floor. I bent down and fumbled around for it. I was getting pretty frustrated and I could feel myself losing control. Chester was going to show up- I could tell- I tried to relax a bit and breathe.<br>I thought of Zoey, how I'd been able to tell her the truth last night, even though she was asleep, how I'd tell her for real today. I thought of how she seemed so okay with it, how she'd hugged me- tight.  
>I was back! It was getting easier to control it now. My hand found the flashlight and switched it on, the wider passage before me was illuminated. This passage was lined with old broken gas lamps and the barrels that supposedly contained toxic waste.<br>There was a tunnel on the left that Scott had shown us was a shortcut to the shore of the pool. I kept going, counted three more tunnels as I passed that Brick and I had already checked out that were full of junk like broken pickaxes. I entered the stock room and started looking around, there really weren't that many cans down here. It started to dawn on me how dark it was. I hoped the flashlight didn't run out. One had already run out, and Jo ordered Anne Maria to replace its batteries with the ones from her hairdryer. The argument they ended up having had _not_ been pretty. After threatening to cut all of Anne Maria's hair off with Scott's shark tooth while she slept, Jo won the fight, but it turned out that the batteries for the hairdryer were too small for the flashlight. Anne Maria had been relieved, that girl was really committed to her hair.  
>Just then I saw something move outside in the main tunnel. I shone my flashlight on it, already starting to panic. Anne Maria was leaning on the opening of the cave, "Hey 'Mike'" she said.<br>"Oh hey Anne Maria," I replied, "I need to talk to you about something..."  
>"Go 'head, nobody's stoppin you." she answered.<br>I took a breath and began, "Remember the other night when you kissed Vito like that?"  
>"-Actually<em> he<em> kissed_ me_ -but go on." she corrected.  
>"Yeah...well I'd really like it if you wouldn't do that again, like ever." I said, trying not to sound like a jerk, and obviously failing.<br>"What, I ain't allowed to kiss you?" she said, looking confused.  
>"Well yeah, I mean me and Zoey- she gets really mad at me when Vito flirts with you and-"<br>She interrupted, saying, "Oh I see, little Ms. Goodie Goodie can't handle what we got goin on, so she told you to tell me to pretend like there ain't anything between us?" she was frowning now.  
>"It's not just that- I like Zoey I...I mean not that I don't like you- but I<em> like<em> Zoey so...Vito can't see you anymore." I bent my head apologetically.  
>"Well I wanna hear what Vito has to say about it..." she said, then she came towards me, arching an eyebrow and tugging lightly on the hem of my shirt. I pulled away.<br>"No!- uh- I mean, even if Vito makes a pass on you, you can't kiss him." I explained.  
>"So you're saying you wanna be able to date Zoey and put the moves on me and I just gotta stand there like nothing's happenin?" She put her hands on her hips and looked at me incredulously.<br>"Uh no, well yeah" I fumbled for the words.  
>"-See? <em>Dis<em> is why I prefer Vito, he knows how to treat a woman." she said, folding her arms and looking away from me angrily. I was going to try to explain again but just then there was the sound of a deafening shriek from outside in the main tunnel. I jumped, spilling pineapple juice on the front of my shirt. Anne Maria's eyes widened in terror.  
>"What the heck was that?" she asked<br>I stuck my head outside to see what it was, that was a big mistake. A swarm of bats attacked me from all directions, their claws cut like razors every time they whizzed past my head.  
>"AH!" I cried out, Anne Maria ran out of the cave, "Hol' still, Mikey," she was holding the can of pineapple and reared her arm back to toss it right at the swarm of bats, which was also where my head was.<br>I ducked just in time as the can hit the wall behind me with a smash. It fell to the floor where the bats surrounded it in a whirlwind of leathery wings. I was relieved, but only for a moment because they came right back to attack me.  
>"They're after my blood!" I shouted, running back and forth along the tunnel, trying to keep them away from my face.<br>"It's not your blood they're after," said Anne Maria, pointing to the can of pineapple, that was now empty and clean, "They just want fruit!" she said.  
>"They must be after the juice on my shirt..." I said.<br>"Take it off!" she shouted. I didn't want to, Vito showing up would be the last thing I needed.  
>"Promise you'll put it back on me once the bats are gone?" I asked. She rolled her eyes, but she nodded.<br>"Yeah, sure, whatevah." she said. I tried to take it off, but every time I lowered my arms to try to pull the shirt off I'd get a face full of bat claws.  
>"Run over dis way!" she said, beckoning. I turned around and started running towards her. She stood at the ready, with her arms outstretched.<br>As I passed her I felt her hand grip my shirt sleeve. I stopped running and started pulling backwards, trying to get the shirt to slip off my head. I felt myself losing control as the air made contact with my bare back. The shirt was off and I went under.

* * *

><p><strong>ANNE MARIA<strong>

I tried to pull his shirt off but the material was full o holes from the swarm, and it just tore off of him. So much for putting it back on. I thought. The swarm flew up, then they saw the shirt in my hand.  
>"Ey, lookin fuh dis?" I said, Den I tossed it further down the tunnel, and they went after it. I dusted my hands off<p>

_Stupid birds._ I thought. I picked up Mike's flashlight and switched it on. Standin in front of me was Vito, he looked at me with a grin and said "Ey, babe, miss me?"

* * *

><p><strong>JO<strong>

I could hear the sound of day outside the cave. Birds that sounded far away.  
>I woke up before everybody else, not that it was a competition.<br>I checked my watch, it was late, but the cave was dark. It had gotten colder in the night so I pulled my hoodie over my head. We were still stuck in here, like a bunch of stupid kids. I wanted to turn over but I knew any shift would hurt my hand. It already hurt like hell just laying on the newspaper covered crate. I turned over anyways and my eyes scanned the cave.

Everyone was asleep. Anne Maria and Cameron had gone to sleep in the carts, I guessed, and Scott was probably in one as well, cause I didn't see him. Lightning lay on a paper-covered rock beside the carts. Halfway across the room Zoey and Mike were asleep on the floor- dammit- we lugged those crates up here for a reason- they sure as hell aren't decorative! Then I looked to the west wall of the cave, sleeping on his back was the cadet. He'd usually be up by now, russelling up something to eat and smiling while he dished it out, like everything was okay, like we weren't all going to die in an abandoned mine, like he was just glad to do his part to help out. Now he looked really tired though, his hands were clenched and his knees pulled close to him against the cold.

I turned back over but my dumb hand bent again and it hurt, bad. I hated this pain, it was sharp and it shot right through me, it meant I'd be useless in trying to get out of here. But it took my mind off the dull pain that was twisting in my chest. I knew what that was, and it wasn't sport pain, I didn't even flinch at sport pain. This was worse, _much worse_. I shut my eyes tight. I guess I'd known it from the start, when I'd met the guy, I thought he'd be your typical grass-stains-for-brains military school jock. But I thought he seemed honorable, and honest, and I found he was 'attractive', so I was willing to believe he was different.

So every time he'd talk about all his bootcamp medals I entertained the idea that he was trying to impress me, and I offered some competitive rebuttal- tried to see if it got to him that I could jog circles around him or could beat him at thumb wrestling, and it didn't- for the first time a guy had said I was stronger than him, and hadn't seemed angry or suspicious- if a bit surprised- he'd let me be team captain and I'd been pretty floored about it.

Then I had to pull myself back to reality, the cadet was strong, he'd had to have_ let_ me beat him.

Chivalry. It could mean he was just old fashioned, didn't want to hurt a girl- or it could mean he couldn't even tolerate the idea of losing to a girl- that later he'd be chumming it up with his bros about how he let me win, how if he weren't such a nice guy he'd have won easy. I knew it had to be that, typical _heroic_ dudebro.  
>I'd show him, I'd figured out his weakness and I'd use it against him when the time was right, until then I'd make use of his strengths whenever they suited. Little did I know that my own weakness was making me forget my objective.<br>Sure he wasn't a tactical genius but he always went for it, he always gave it his all, he had a momentum that matched my own- except for when he hesistated, when he talked about his code, when he put victory on the line- And for what? To play hero?

A team needs one leader and trusting, obedient peons- I mean members. When that trust goes away so does obedience, and there's no way to win once you lose control of your team. Was he trying to turn the team against me? I was an excellent captain, the Maggots only lost once-  
>Then why? I already knew the answer, it was because I was a girl, that's why. It made me angry enough to put my fist through a wall.<p>

But there were still times I'd forget, times I'd go back to save his military ass from a stupid pet grave, instead of carrying on with the challenge and heading straight for I'd go over to gloat, or start an argument with him, just to distract myself for a while, arguing was something between just the two of us, no messy team politics or challenges. It felt good being around him, and it made me...happy, I guess.

But I needed to wake up, I was forgetting what had happened before, and what could happen again. I took out my whistle to remind me of what Scott had told me- the truth I'd refused to believe- until now:  
>That Brick was glad he'd been transfered to the Toxic Rats- that he'd taken his morning jog earlier to avoid me. That he'd been trying to make us lose for ages just so he could vote me off. That he had volunteered himself for elimination because he knew Dakota was going home and there'd be a swap. That he was glad he finally didn't have to follow my orders, and that he thought I was a bitch.<p>

I must've fallen back asleep and woken up about an hour later.

The cave was pretty damn dark even though it was morning. It was seriously cold, I pulled my hood over my head. We could always use Helmet-Head's hairdryer to warm up later.  
><em>Hey, hang on a minute<em>, an idea dawned on me.

We could put the hairdryer batteries into the ePhone! We could e-mail our folks like we'd wanted to.  
>I turned over. Freckle-Face wasn't there -and he had the ePhone. The cadet (or should I say, the<em> traitor<em>) was gone too, probably making us some breakfast by now.  
>I figured I'd sort out the battery plan later. Now I just needed something. Something to take my mind off of everything. I headed down to the lake.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>BRICK<strong>

I woke up late. At 0900 hours by my watch. It had been hard to get to sleep last night. Usually I told myself the sooner you go to sleep the quicker it'll be bright again. But last night, I didn't care if the darkness swallowed me whole. Through my choice of action I'd let Jo get hurt- and I'd hurt her too.  
>I was so caught up in keeping my code that I ended up breaking it. I'd walked away from her, and Jo had looked at me like...like she needed me. Two days ago I would never have believed that could be true, ever since Scott had told me what she said to him. It was the day after the team swap, I was pretty mad at Jo for making me betray my team and not even being sorry.<br>I'd gone out jogging earlier that day, I didn't get to sleep that night and the sun was almost up. So she wasn't there jogging with me like she normally was. I kept telling myself that this was great, that I didn't need anyone making fun of me, or bossing me around. But there was also nobody there to make me want to go faster, to really push myself further than I was used to, I slowed down, and felt kind of upset, but if I hadn't I probably wouldn't have noticed Jo's whistle, lying on the ground.

I figured she must've dropped it. I had to bring it back to her, who knew? Maybe she'd realised by now that I was right about going back to save the others in the last challenge, maybe she'd realised she missed me being part of her team.  
>I went back to camp and headed for the Maggot's cabin. I was going to knock on the door when someone called my name, someone standing on the shady side of the cabin. It was Scott. He'd told me that he wouldn't do that if I was him. He said he'd just met Jo, and she'd taken a jog earlier to avoid me.<p>

"She said she was glad to finally be rid of the extra '**dead weight'**." he'd said. That hurt to hear, and I kind of wanted him to stop, but he went on.  
>"She said she kept you around because you're all muscle- and no spine." he'd said.<br>"Wake up Brick, she was using you. She just kept you around as her peon for long as you were loyal, after that she was going to vote you off."

I didn't want to believe it, but why would he lie to me about that?  
>"A girl like that ain't worth risking the million dollars for." he'd finished. He said it'd be best if I didn't try to talk to her now, and he offered to give the whistle to her himself.<br>I gave it to him, I felt all hollow and empty. And from that moment I did everything I could to try to show her I was capable, that I was nobody's dead weight, that I didn't need her instruction. I really thought he'd been telling the truth. -Until last night.  
>Somehow, the way she'd looked at me had told me something. It told me that she saw me as more than a peon, even more than a teammate. She was my friend. And you had to trust your friends more than people like Scott, who was looking more and more to me like an enemy in disguise.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>SCOTT<strong>

I was just investigating some interesting crates that were in the back of the shed when I heard a creak and a slam from across the shed, followed by a low chuckle from Chef, who'd just locked me in.  
>"Where's your fifty percent now, farmboy?" he taunted. "Hey, what the-"<br>Ha, crazy glue on the doorknob and on the ground in front of the door- madhesive never failed me back home for gluin' loonies to the ceiling, but usually I did that when I was bored- this was wayy more fun.  
>"When I get my boot out of this it's going right up your-"<br>"Easy," I said, grabbing a pack of matches, "You wouldn't want to get me mad," I struck one, making sure he could hear the sizzle of the fire as it ignited.  
>"Look, fool, I know you ain't gonna burn the place down while you're still inside." He thought I was bluffing, but he kept pulling forcefully on the door handle, making the whole shed shake.<br>"That glue might hold you for about a minute," I said as he wrenched the door open and tried to free his hand, I took out the stick of dynamite and lit it up.  
>"But that," I said as I tossed it outside where it landed a few yards behind him, "that's gonna blow in ten seconds, flat." He grinned challengingly.<br>"You think I can't get out of this?" he called out roughly, "you must be even dumber than you look, punk."

**9**

**8**

**7**  
>I smirked and walked back to lean against the wall of the shed, folded my arms and faced him.<br>**6**

**5**  
>He struggled for a while he freed his foot from his boot and attempted to reach the red blast-candle<br>**4**  
>He was able to touch it with his heel but it rolled just an inch out of reach.<br>**3**  
>I stuck my fingers in my ears and grinned at him. He glared, sighed with exasperation and jerked his head in the direction of the dynamite. I would've made him ask nice -but there was too much at stake- this thing could go off any moment. I'd stopped keeping count. Plus old dynamite was pretty unpredictable.<br>I walked past him through the doorway and I could tell he was resisting the urge to strangle me. I walked over to the thing -the spark had almost reached the fuse base- and stomped it into the ground.  
>I picked it up, tossed it into the air and caught it.<br>"You ain't gonna try pullin somethin like that again, are ya?" I said.  
>"No, cos the next time you're goin down, dirt boy." he answered roughly "Wasn't a bad trick for a kid, but you made a mistake: you took on a man. And this man's got some tricks of his own...just you wait..."<br>"Oh, I'll be waiting," I said as I headed into the forest. "But I'll be doing my waiting_ inside_, see ya later, Sergeant Smelly."  
>He noticed that snowflakes had begun to fall.<p>

I was used to the toxic island's freak weather by now, like how much it had snowed during the ice fort challenge, but it had never had such perfect timing, except for the time Lightning had claimed he was invincible and had run around from cabin to cabin shouting "Throw whatever you can at Lightnin, Lightnin can take it!" at people, I'd just been about to 'accidentally' nail him with a fake Chris head but before I threw it out the window, hailstones the size of dirt clods started wallopping him in the head.  
>"Ahh! Why is this happening to Lightnin?" he cried into the night as even more stung him in the face as they landed from above. Up until then, I'd never had such a good reason to believe in a sympathetic God.<p>

The snow started settling around Chef Hatchet and he gave me a glare that said _"I hate you"_ and probably some other choice words.  
>I headed back to the mine, I just remembered something. I took out the ePhone and ripped off the backing. I didn't know so much tech stuff so I just tore something out that looked important, a small black chip with a red wire around it, and tossed it on the ground.<br>Just in case they tried to start it up again. I needed to make sure they trusted me, or they might follow me down- and out of the mine. But suspicions flared up after that blabbermouth on the chatroom had mentioned me.  
>For now I just needed to throw them off my scent, speaking of which- I reeked of Chris's fancy shampoo. It didn't smell like 'Hollywood Musk' at all, more like fried eggs cooked on the greasy engine of a diesel truck.<p>

I sighed. It reminded me of home.

* * *

><p><strong>BRICK<strong>

I needed to clear my head some, it was full of guilt, it was full of Jo. I decided to do some laps in the underground lake. It was really cold today, cold as winter.  
>It was great! Nothing like the bracing cold, it doesn't let you think of anything except for how darn cold it is, like doing drills in the rain at 3 a.m... I was almost lost in thoughts of boot camp when I saw her.<br>Jo had come down to the lake, well not down like the rest of us, no she'd decided to take the high road and walk down the track. Our eyes met briefly and then she looked as if she considered going back to the cave, then she shut her eyes, unsmiling, and prepared to dive.  
>She sliced through the air like before, but this time with her arms tucked beside her, to avoid painful impact of her wrist with the water, her landing had been a little less precise than before and the smack of water had to have hurt, but when she surfaced her face didn't show it at all.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>JO<strong>

God, why did Jarhead have to be here, this was the last thing I needed, he wasn't even wearing a shirt for Pete's sake! I kept my eyes away from him. Any indication of my...affection needed to be concealed. Guys at school used to laugh around with eachother about which one of them was 'gay for Jo.' Something told me the cadet wasn't like that, maybe he'd try to be a gentleman, and let me down politely. But maybe he'd use it against me,- in a way it'd be something I couldn't beat him at,_ I'd_ be the one who'd fallen and _he'd_ be the last one standing. He'd finally have found a way to show everyone he didn't need me...because he didn't want me.

* * *

><p><strong>BRICK<strong>

I shivered, but I knew it wasn't because of the cold. She wouldn't look at me, or say anything. She waded out before taking off her hoodie. She must have worn it most of the time because her arms were pale and smooth, I kept looking at her, until she turned around and glared at me- I think she thought I was staring at her wrist and she tucked it out of sight again. Then she came back in the water and started doing laps, next to me, backstroke and freestyle, zipping across the pool and making V-shaped waves spread across the water. I stopped when I noticed how far she was taking it, I knew she was in pain, she knew she was in pain too, but she was gritting her teeth and shutting her eyes against the water, and propelling herself forward, chopping the surface with her twisted wrist.

* * *

><p><strong>JO<strong>

He kept looking at my hand,  
>"Jo, you can't keep this up, you're just going to get hurt-"<br>"Wouldn't be the first time, maggot." I said, getting out of the water, if I stayed in there any longer I might make the error of mistaking this 'but you'll get hurt' stuff for genuine concern. I guess he needed to play hero again, or maybe his pride was hurt since I was beating him at laps even with a messed up wrist. He was giving me a look that was making me doubt that though, I could usually read a person in ten seconds flat, list their weaknesses, and their uses, if any. Yeah some people thought that was too hardcore, but those people didn't realise that when you let someone close enough, they go right for the thoat. Distance is what kept the line between competition and camaraderie, a line I was not crossing again.  
>That's what I did when I left the cavern and began heading back to the cave, I put some more distance between us.<p>

* * *

><p>It was a smiling Chris McLean who sat across the table from Blaineley as her fingers avidly typed out celebrity trash talk on her laptop. He had already showered and dressed and prepped the percolator, turning to ask Blaineley in a chipper tone, "How do you like your coffee?"<p>

She raised her eyebrows before eyeing him suspiciously,

"What's going on with you, McLean?" she asked, "just find out someone liked that badminton flick you 'starred' in?" picking seeds out of a slice of pink grapefruit she added, "_besides_ you, I mean."  
>Ordinarily he'd have replied with an asinine comment about her brief and terrible music video career in the 90s, but today <em>nothing<em> could dampen his spirits, not this morning's issue with the shower (someone had used up all his shampoo and the floor was crazy dirty, he didn't need to see the red hairs that were stuck to the soap to know who'd been messin with his stuff), not the snow outside (**bonus!** those kids would be freezing, and when it got cold, things always got intense.), not even Blaineley's smug face across the table. Everything was fine because this time tomorrow that smile would be gone, when the pair of them went down to the dock to intro the show (they couldn't do that in front of the mine, they could hear pretty well in there) she'd be screeching like a broken microphone, and she'd be off the air for good. He'd get his show back, and another 60% of the money, simple as-  
>"Pie?" he asked, offering her a slice of Chef's baked apple goodness.<br>"...No thanks." she said, still looking at him suspiciously,  
>"What about you, are you <em>sure<em> you need the extra calories?" she added, looking pointedly at him.  
>Chris made as if to answer her angrily but stopped himself when he remembered the plan.<br>"Just means there's more pie for me." He said, finally.  
>There was a satisfying silence, she didn't usually keep her mouth shut, but she'd have to get used to it!<br>There was a crash as the kitchen door was kicked down. Chef stomped in, looking half-frozen and tracking snow everywhere. He had one boot on and he was dragging a wooden door around by the knob.  
>Chris opened his mouth to say something but Chef just said "Don't ask." and with that headed to his room, there came the crash of another door being kicked down.<br>They stared after him in confusion, then there was a beep  
>Blaineley checked her flip-phone before saying,<br>"I think Chef's got the right idea, I think I'll go take a break too." said Blaineley as she hurried off to her bedroom.

* * *

><p>"What is it?" asked Blainely into the phone, keeping her voice low<br>"That stunt you pulled earlier, it could have jeopardized everything."  
>"What stunt?"<br>"The whole, putting red hair dye in his shampoo thing." said the voice on the phone.  
>"How'd you know about that? Are you watching me?" asked Blaineley, raising an eyebrow.<br>"I'm always watching you." the voice replied, and when Blaineley began to sift between the DVDs on the shelf and scan the ceiling looking for hidden cameras he said, "Look behind you."  
>There was the vintage poster of Chris McLean photoshopped to look like he was standing in front of a fiery explosion, wearing a motorcylce jacket and sunglasses that he pulled down on one side to reveal an eye that looked alot like a...camera lens.<br>"I_ knew_ I should've taken down that stupid poster." said Blainely.  
>"What were you even thinking with that juvenile prank?" continued the voice on the phone.<br>"I was thinking Chris's hair's his pride and joy, why not turn him into a freaky ginger." replied Blaineley a bit peeved, "And I was thinking he _definitely_ wouldn't go on TV like that...and I'd finally get to be the one and only host."  
>"No! Chris is an important part of my- of <em>our<em> plan. If he realised it was you he'd be suspicious of us, and it would make the final push even more difficult to pull off." said the man on the phone, trying to temper the aggravation in his voice, then he added

"Besides he'd probably just dye it black again, the guy probably dyes his hair anyways."  
>"No, it wouldn't have worked- I got this stuff sent in from the Phillipines. It's permanent, and you can't dye over it. How else do you think I maintain this fabulous level of blonde-itude?"she flipped her hair smugly.<br>A thought was still bothering her though and she continued,  
>"I just don't know why he didn't use it...it smells pretty strong but I put it in his funkiest shampoo...unless he already suspects something"<br>"Exactly. Now we have to get him to trust us," replied the deep-voiced man, "so play nice, Blaineley."  
>And with that he hung up and Blaineley was left pouting. She'd play nice, alright, but she wasn't going to like it.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>ANNE MARIA<strong>

"What're we gonna eat for brekkie, Vito?" I asked, I realised it was probably noon by now so I started sifting through the nearest crate and pulling out cans to check the labels. One o' salted pork (eww), one of asparagus (and get another servin o' drama like the last time? no thanks- what the heck was the big deal with asparagus anyways? Canadians are nuts.)

One can had words in some dumb language and when I turned it over, there was a picture of old people on it.  
>"What the-" I began.<br>"Ey, I dunno about dat stuff, but you can always feast your eyes on the Vito." he said flexing his biceps and grunting. I'm pretty sure that was supposed to be a pun.  
>"Vito baby, I didn't know my guy was a <em>poet<em>!" I said, and I watched him flex summore. But there's only so much guy-eyein you can do on an empty stomach, so I pulled out another crate and kept lookin.  
>"Whassamatter babe? Deres nobody else in here," he put his arm around my waist and pulled me to him, "Howz about we start a little...trouble" he gave me that cocky smile that made me wanna take him home.<br>"Wait a sec- didn't you say no handsies, no smush- about a minute ago?" I said, lookin at him and wonderin what was goin on in his head.  
>"Ey, the Vito is off-limits," he said, frowning, "to everyone except fuh you." and I let his perfect bod press against mine as he moved his hands to my lower back. Our lips only touched for a sec tho because when I looked across the room I saw something familiar.<br>"Speakin o' trouble, V," I said, "I think I got a way we can mix some up!"

* * *

><p>"Pineapple juice?" asked Cameron as he got out of his cart and adjusted his glasses, "Are we out of solid food already?"<br>"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Lightning screamed, making everyone turn around, "Lightnin can't die like this!Lightnin wanted to die during a Super Bowl game! - so Lightnin can be buried under the goalpost," he jumped up onto a crate and shouted, "just like Jerry Rice!"  
>There was silence for a second while everyone tried to wrap their minds around what, to Lightning, must have been a very poignant moment of self expression.<br>"...Dat don't even make sense," said Anne Maria  
>"Yeah" said Scott and Anne Maria gave him a look of approval before he continued,<p>

"How do you bury a guy _under_ a goalpost- do you chuck him in _sideways_?"

Anne Maria slapped her palm to her head and said, "No I mean, you really want people jumpin up and down where your corpse is at?"

"Hm...depends, would they be stomping the ground after losing or celebrating a victory?" said Jo, she looked as if she was considering new burial plans.  
>"Neither- They'd be walkin around trying to clean up all the paper cups and half eaten hotdogs the spectators were tossin at the dead guy -after he <em>collapsed<em> in the middle of the big game." said Anne Maria with annoyance.

"Now take out your cans, we made loads of the stuff." She started ladling pineapple juice into their cans. Brick came in just as she was doleing it out.  
>"Ey, good seein ya Brick," said Anne Maria "I didn't see any food, but I didn't really look that hard."<br>"I'm on it." said Brick, picking up Scott's flashlight, he was glad for the chance to disappear for a while, with the way things had been going with Jo, allowing himself one look back at her as he headed into the cart tunnel.  
>"Hey, this stuff's not bad." said Jo as she took a swig of Anne Maria's concoction. "Actually, it's pretty good!" she said as she drained her can. Anne Maria put her hand on her hip and raised her eyebrows.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>ANNE MARIA<strong>

I had no idea Jo was a fan of liquor, but I guess she had to do something so she could face her reflection every day. Actually, she wasn't that bad of a looker, nice cheekbones, Cupid's bow lip, not bad for potential! But the girl needed to spend less time in the gym and more time in the salon. One thing I hate is wasted potential, if you got it you gotta learn to show it off. No wonder she didn't have a guy, all you got is one shot- one first impression otherwise, they just look the other way.  
>Poor broad didn't have a clue.<p>

* * *

><p>Lightning drank all of his as well, seeming to forget his hatred of the less meaty food groups.<p>

_Lightnin gets thirsty thinkin about how he's gonna leave this world!_

Jo was on her second can of the drink- or was it her third? Scott cautiously took a sip.

* * *

><p><strong>SCOTT<strong>

I wasn't so sure about that 'pineapple juice', I usually prefered having breakfast the way civilized folks did: by picking the lock on a wannabe celebrity's fridge and grabbing everything I could fit in my pockets before being chased out by a hatchet-wielding psycho-chef.  
>I took a sip and I knew what it was.<br>-I'd snuck into Pappy's whisky before, I remember the first time he caught me, I was eight, he was drunk and he got so mad he took out his belt and welted me over till I hollered for Ma  
>"Your Ma ain't comin home, son-" he'd say between whips of the tough leather, "she done left cause of <strong><em>you <em>***hic* - yup that's right- knew you was trouble from the start; seein as you was born with the_ Devil's red hair_!"  
>After the beating he quit crying and sobered up. Then he came to his senses... and let me help him finish a whole bottle! City folk said you couldn't teach a kid like that- but ya can't teach an eight year old to read, so they ain't gonna respond to lousy rules even if you spell em oout in black and white, they get the message a lot better when it's in black and blue.<p>

Yep, I'd learned my lesson:_ never_ get caught.  
>I emptied the can on the ground behind my back. "Mmm, that's good swill!" I said for them to hear. As much as getting boozed up would help keep the cold outta my system, I couldn't afford to let my guard down, or let anything slip.<p>

* * *

><p>Cameron was looking doubtfully at his. "These are cherries, right?" he asked Anne Maria who replied,<p>

"Yup, the can had em mixed in with the pineapple chunks."  
>"Oh," said Cameron, "well then I can't have any, I'm allergic to maraschino cherries." he put his can down and it was quickly taken by Jo who poured it into her own.<br>"Then you don't mind sharing, do ya, Stringbean?" she said, taking a sip.

Vito was chugging from his, while Anne Maria cheered him on, after downing it in one go he shook his head and gave a satisfied grin. "Oh yeah, nobody can out-chug the Vito!"  
>As if in reply Jo drank the contents of one can and then followed it with another. She winced.<br>"It burns, don't it?" said Vito.  
>"Not as much as losing to a girl." said Jo, smugly<br>"Ey, dat doesn't count- da sun was in my eyes!" Vito exclaimed, pointing at the cave ceiling.  
>"There's <em>no sun<em> in here, Hair-gel." said Jo.  
>"Oh yea? Well a-"<br>But Anne Maria had quieted Vito's argument with a smooch. His fists unclenched and he put his arms on her waist, she stuck her hands in his back pockets to pull him closer and he moaned. Jo gave the two a look of disgust and found someplace else to finish her drink that was free of such displays of teenage hanky panky.

Just then Zoey got up, she'd had a good night and was smiling as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.  
>"Morning guys, what's for-" her voice caught in her throat at what she saw.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>SCOTT<strong>  
>Things were getting intense so I decided to slip out. I grabbed my flashlight and started making my way towards the exit. Brick would probably come back with something eatable, but unless it was more of Chef Hatchet's lasagna I wasn't interested.<br>Besides, I had damage to do, and now seemed like just the right time to get to work.

**ZOEY**  
>I couldn't believe it, after everything he'd said last night, all that stuff about trust- he'd gone right back to her- I wanted to scream. I wanted to tell him how I hated him, even though I knew it would be a lie, it wouldn't matter- his words had meant nothing.<br>"Mike!" I said, and he pulled away from Anne long enough to say,  
>"Ey- pastey, Mike ain't here, and the Vito's a little busy." then he went right back to kissing her, I was in shock, I needed to get out of here, I- I needed somewhere to think- or not think for a while. I ran down the tunnel that led to the lake. No, not the lake, it still held the memory of Mike and I, sitting next to the water, brushing hands and smiling at eachother, it had just been two days ago, but already it was far away, and was being clouded by the sharp images of him touching Anne Maria, the sound of his voice, gruff and proud and..and..on purpose, and the look in his eyes, like they had emptied of any memory of us, of me.<br>I felt tears well up in my own eyes, my mascara was going to run,  
>"Great, Zoey, just <em>great.<em> Let him see he had me crying, that'll show him." I spoke into the darkness. When the darkness answered I jumped, startled.

* * *

><p><strong>BRICK<strong>  
>I found some canned beets and started to take them out of the crate.<br>Why did I feel this way- it was just getting worse. I just wanted Jo back, how we were before, I wanted her to talk to me, even if she was still mad, I wanted her to let me help her get some support for that wrist. But now she wouldn't even look at me.  
>Just then I heard someone outside the tunnel and I went outside to see, it was Zoey.<br>"Oh hey, Brick" she said. She had been crying.  
>"What's wrong?" I asked as she walked inside.<br>"It's nothing," she said with a weak smile, then indicating the cans I was holding she asked, "What are we having?"  
>"Beets." I said.<br>"Beets, that's good, beets are good" she started "you know nothing beats-" she choked on the words and slumped down to sit on a crate, wiping her eyes.  
>"It's Mike, he's- oh I don't know what to do anymore! You saw him out there...with her- I mean it's like everythingwas just a joke to him! he probably doesn't even like me..."<br>She trailed off and put her head to rest on her knees.  
>"I don't think that's true, I mean..." Zoey looked up at me and wiped her eyes.<br>"Mike's a good teammate- and a good teammate wouldn't do something like that."

Zoey looked at me doubtfully.  
>"When we were in the same cabin he used to mention you all the time. He even asked me if you'd said anything about him."<br>"He did?" she asked, looking hopeful.  
>"Yeah, I had to say no, and he looked pretty upset. I'd say he likes you about as much as you like him."<br>"He sure has a funny way of showing it..." she said frowning. I sat down next to her.  
>"I know it's hard- I mean Jo does alot of things that I don't understand but. I guess there are just things about her I don't know yet." I paused to think of how to explain it, then continued,<br>"I guess, if you like someone, you just have to give them a chance, even if it's against your better instincts, because you don't know what's going on in their head, or...what they've been through."  
>Zoey still looked doubtful but she said,<br>"Yeah... I guess I can see what you mean..."  
>She was quiet for a while and she looked like she was thinking, then she spoke again.<p>

"I didn't know you had a crush on Jo!"  
>"What?" I said, accidentally dropping the cans. I started picking them up off the ground, I hoped she couldn't see my face, it felt like I was blushing really hard.<br>"I guess she is kind of...pretty.. n' smart and tough and...pretty."  
>"You said 'pretty' twice, Brick!" said Zoey, beaming at me.<br>"When I'm aound her I...it's so- I just-." I struggled to put into words how she made me feel, like...so darn happy and excited and nervous - but also relaxed, like everything was under control.  
>I remembered back to when she was put onto my team, after I'd welcomed her back she'd grabbed me by the hand and pulled me to her- our faces were really close. I felt like she was going to kiss me, and even though the thought only lasted a second it filled me with the strangest combination; like pleasure mixed with fear, I never knew what Jo was going to do next. She'd said that now I was on her team, and the feeling intensified before being taken over by the pain of her grip on my hand.<br>All I ended up saying was "Man.. it's frustrating."  
>Zoey nodded as if she'd read my mind. I was holding the pot and staring into it.<br>"It doesn't matter though," I said, shaking my head.  
>"Why not?" she asked.<br>"Because...Jo doesn't like me back- definitely not like that."  
>"Sure she does," said Zoey, "she's just not that great at showing it, I guess."<br>"What makes you say that?"  
>"Because," she said, smiling up at me,<br>"she stares at you too."  
>Zoey got up, "So," she said more loudly, "are we getting these cans open or what?" I was glad she had cheered up. But that wasn't the reason my heart was beating like I'd just gone uphill at a full sprint- or that my face was redder than the beets I was scooping out of the can.<p>

**Jo liked me,** I kept thinking.

I guess it made sense- no wonder she'd been so mad when I'd let go of the rope, the trouble was -she didn't think_ I_ liked_ her_- but I did. Now I knew I did. I just needed to show her how much. Then things would be situation normal again, better even, because then maybe she'd-  
>My thinking was interupted by a shout fom the cavern. Zoey looked at me fearfully. I grabbed the flashlight and we darted out of there, and into the tunnel.<p>

* * *

><p>"<strong>WOOOOOOOOHHH YEAH!<strong>" Shouted Vito, pumping his fist into the air. "Let's get this party rollin, baby!"  
>"Why are you shouting so loud?" asked Zoey, "We thought you were in danger!"<br>"Pshh, only danger we're in is death by _boredom_." said Anne Maria. "We got drinks," she indicated the pot of pineapple juice, "but the party's still missin two crucial ingredients."  
>In response to the confused look on Brick's face she added, "Lights an music."<br>At that Vito charged towards Brick, snatched his dog tag chain and yanked it off.  
>"Hey, my tags!" said Brick, angrily.<br>Vito ran over to the middle of the cave and swung the chain around and around before tossing it up, where it got caught on the lone branch that hung down from the tree. Vito stood back to admire his handiwork.  
>"What the heck was that for?" asked Brick.<br>"Yeah, what gives, Vito?" added Anne Maria, "Why'd you have to go an mess with the guy's bling?"  
>"Ey, I wouldn't be mad at the guy who just fixed our light problem." he said, pointing up. Moonlight reflected off of the tags in small glints that danced on the walls of the cave as the chain swung. Everyone had to appreciate that it was a nice change. Vito stood proudly with his hands in his pockets.<br>"See dat?" said Anne Maria, pointing at Vito, "stroke of genius."  
>"Ey- I wasn't strokin nothin, babe." said Vito, frowning and removing his hands from his pockets.<br>Brick scanned the room. Jo was sipping a can of juice, Lightning was running up and down the length of the cave, and Cameron was sitting on a crate.  
>"Brick,I think Anne Maria spiked the pineapple juice...I think they're," he lowered his voice in a whisper, "<em>inebriated<em>."  
>He indicated Jo who blew her whistle at Lightning, telling him to push crates across to one side of the cave.<br>"**All** the crates!" shouted Jo.

* * *

><p><strong>BRICK<strong>

Lightning finished and wiped sweat off his forehead. It was way too cold to sweat, but I guessed that was what alcohol did to you.  
>Jo's hoodie was still off, and I didn't know if it was the light or what, but she looked so...nice.<br>I'd never really noticed the small stuff, like how when she grinned, her eyes went all intense like if she was looking at a finish line far ahead, and her nose crinkled.  
>She tucked her hair behind her ear. What colour was her hair? It looked like copper. She'd probably prefer calling it gold. Gold was first place, after all. It curled right about her neck.<br>I took a deep breath and walked over to her, I was determined to get her to take care of that wrist, at all costs.  
>Now that she was so close I felt alot less brave.<br>I was staring at her again. Had her lips always been so...I dunnocurved..and soft looking. For a second I wondered what they felt like.  
>"What's up, cadet?" she asked, eyeing me curiously. I shook my head and spoke.<br>"Jo, permission to strongly suggest you get some support for your wrist, or it'll only get worse. In my experience-"  
>"You can fix this thing?" interrupted Jo, holding out her hand.<br>I blinked in surprise "Uh yeah- I mean of course I can...so you mean you'll allow me to-"  
>"Allow you?" she asked incredulously, "This thing hurts like <em>hell<em>, maggot- get to it!"  
>I paused for a moment before continuing cautiously. Was she serious?<br>"But aren't you mad at me?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.  
>"I'm mad at you?" she asked. Then she frowned and pushed me against the wall with her left hand.<br>"I''m mad at you!" she shouted, bringing her face near to mine, so I could feel her bangs brush against me. I tried to ignore the pleasure that radiated from her touch but I couldn't and my senses fogged up.  
>She was so darn close, I just wanted the space between us to go away. I wanted to nudge my lips to touch hers, and make her feel all crazy and happy and mixed up inside like she'd made me feel. She was so darn cute when she was mad. And boy was she mad.<br>"Wait, _why_ am I mad at you?" she asked, stepping back.  
>Then it occurred to me that she was under the influence, and probably didn't have too good a memory of yesterday. If I told her the truth she'd go right back to giving me the cold shoulder. But if I told her nothing had happened she'd let me talk to her, let me fix her hand, and if I made it up to her she might even let me-<br>I shook the thought away. If I told her nothing had happened, I'd also be telling a lie to a friend that I respected...and admired. And that was definitely against my code.  
>"The other night, you and I were trying to grapple our way out of here..."<br>"Excellent." interrupted Jo, grinning, "and were we successful?"

"...Um...no, Jo..." I said, indicating that we were still in a cave.  
>"Anyway," I continued, "Lightning was being attacked by scorpions down in the mine so I had to go save him while Mike took over and Anne Maria-"<p>

"Of course. -Mike felt like playing hero so he made you go after Lightning so he could try his hands at the rope. Trouble was he couldn't keep his hands on the rope, instead he put them on Anne Maria.  
>I remember." she said, nodding.<br>"No, wait Jo, he didn't make me go after Lightning, I ran off to save him; even though you told me not to." I looked at the ground, "and that's why Mike had to take over."  
>"No need to martyr yourself for the sake of Mike, cadet, it's not your fault you listened to him, you always follow orders." she said, "that's one of the reasons I dig you."<br>"It really wasn't his fault I-"

I realised what she'd just said, "you...you dig me?" I asked, looking at her.  
>"Of course I dig you, maggot!" she said incredulously.<p>

"I- ..I feel the same way about you, too, Ma'am.." I struggled to voice the words that felt like they were caught in my throat.  
>"Nobody else understands drive, hard work and discipline like you and me." she continued. "We're a team. -I mean even if we're <em>on<em> a team we're _still_ a team. We're a team _within_ a team," she pulled me closer to her. The pores on my arms raised and my heart raced in mounting she whispered in my ear,

"It's like _teamception_."

I laughed nervously, the feeling of her warm breath on my ear had sent a powerful thrill through me. I shivered.  
>"I can trust you, not like <em>that one<em>," she jerked he head to point at Mike.  
>"At first I thought his attraction to Anne Maria was just going to be a distraction. But it turned out to be more like <em>self-sabotage<em>." she narrowed her eyes at Mike, who was standing for Anne Maria to feel his biceps.  
>"Jo, your wrist," I reminded, taking the strips of cloth I'd torn from my under vest out of my pocket.<br>"Ah yes. Here it is." she said, holding out her hand.  
>"Uh, Jo, you sprained your right hand." I said.<br>"Right." She replied.  
>"So...this is your left hand."<br>She brought both of her hands up to her face for close inspection. Then she showed me her right hand, saying, "Ah, so it is! Thanks for telling me, cadet, it would have been pretty bad if you'd amputated the wrong one." She looked at me expectantly and nodded, "Go ahead, chop away."  
>"What? I'm not going to..." I started, then I shook my head "nevermind."<p>

I took her hand, I had to be careful. I started wrapping the cloth around it, I was trying to remember all the steps, but I was also still thinking about what she'd said. She didn't think I was pathetic for following orders, she said she 'dug' me...that's the same as 'like' right?  
>It was as I'd figured- Scott wasn't trustworthy. Before I'd wanted to believe that he'd lied more than anything. And now I knew it. Dad always said that alcohol showed you what a man was really made of. I took that to mean it made you act how you would act if you didn't care how people saw you.<p>

Maybe this was how Jo really was, maybe she wasn't so cut-throat and cold and confusing after all. At least, unless it's making Jo say things she doesn't mean...

"_FUCK_ THAT, _**NACHOS**_!" she shouted, pumping her good fist in the air. The look on her face was serious, and I couldn't help smiling at her.  
>"What?" she asked, frowning slightly,<br>"Nothing." I said. "Almost done." I'd finished tying her hand up, then I tied the other strip of fabric to it and reached around to tie it over her shoulder, the movement was simple, but it sent a rush of warmth through me.  
>"There." I said, tying a final knot. She didn't move, neither did I, I didn't want to let go. I looked at her, her eyes were sharp and blue. It was like she was challenging me, when she looked at me like that.<br>I lifted her hand gently, held it open and pressed my lips against her palm.  
><em>So darn soft<em>  
>was all I could think. Soft, and warm and tender. The action sent a shiver through me, I think she felt it too. Her hand tensed, then relaxed, and then pulled away. There was an ache in the pit of my stomach, for a second I was still kissing the air, I must've looked pretty dumb.<p>

"What the hell was that for?" she asked, frowning and looking at her hand. Was it just the drinks? Or was she blushing?  
>I felt color rush to my face, I looked down and all I could think of to say was, "I...uh...just want you to get better." It was a pretty weak excuse.<br>She smirked at me and said,  
>"Just can't get enough of losing to me at thumb-wrestling, can you, soldier?"<br>I smiled.  
>"You won't be saying that after the<em> rematch<em>."

* * *

><p>"C'mon, let's get this party goin'!" she shouted to the room at large.<br>She started climbing a pillar of rock. I was going to stop her but she managed to do it with one hand, no problem.  
>"I can see my house from up here, oh, wait- that's just Cameron's head." She said.<p>

"Hey!" said Cameron indignantly.

"Gimme a beat, Brickhouse!" she shouted.  
>I looked around, confused.<br>"Me?" I asked,  
>"Yes, you! Anybody else in here named Brickhouse?" she said.<br>"Well actually, Ma'am that's technically not my na-" I began, but she called out to Lightning,  
>"Lightning, bring that pot over here!" she pointed down at the empty pot that had been full of pineapple juice. "Yeah, the spoon too, hurry up, move it or lose it!"<br>Lightning set the pot and spoon down next to me, saying,

"Get your own dang spoon, man, Lightnin's got better things to do. Later losers." then he stormed off.

I just realised that Jo was calling everybody else by their real names.  
>"Grab that coalpot and gimme a beat, cadet!"<br>Everyone but me. I wasn't sure what to make of that but I started to hit the pot with the spoon. The only beat I knew was simple, like marching cadence.

"**Weee Are The Chaampions My Friiee-eeends!**!"  
>She'd started singing. I'd never heard her sing before- Jo wasn't exactly music video material but it sure sounded good to me. What she lacked in melody she definitely made up for in fortitude, you had to admire that, and I noticed everyone else was looking up at her too.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>ANNE MARIA<strong>

Jo climbed on top of a buncha rocks and started shoutin our ears off. We all looked up because we thought she was gonna bring down an avalanche. I can't exactly describe what she sounded like, but if air could crack, it woulda broken into a million pieces by now.

* * *

><p><strong>BRICK<strong>

"**And Weeeee, Keeep on Fiiiiightin Til The Eeeeennnndd!**" she sang out, her face was screwed up in concentration. It was so strange, just yesterday she'd looked helpless (not that she wanted any help) with her sprained wrist, now she had one arm in a sling but she looked powerful enough to call troops into battle.

* * *

><p><strong>ANNE MARIA<strong>

Just like that she started jumpin around. The broad probably never even drank anything more exciting than a Zatorade. I guess you could say she was dancing, if you were as blind as Lightnin over there. Blondie probably never danced either, it looked more like a mix between jumpin jacks and a full on fit. What da heck- now she was doin an air guitar. The girl was a real mess, but it was kinda cool, I guess, in an I'm-neva-gettin-a-boyfriend kinda way.  
>She pointed down at us and yelled, "Any requests?"<br>"**Jump!**" shouted Zoey. Everybody looked around at her, it wasn't like Ms. Goodie-Goodie to say something like that. Jo raised her eyebrows.  
>"It's the name of a song-" she said, "doesn't anyone listen to the Bertles?" Nobody knew anything about whateva band dat was, and I bet she was proud o dat too. I rolled my eyes; <em>hipsters<em>.  
>"Lightnin requests that somebody make him some dinner! Lightnin is starvin-Lightnin can't live like this! Don't anybody care about LIGHTNIN?"<br>Nobody said nothing for a full five seconds, but Lightnin didn't take the hint.  
>"Ahem. Lightnin said, Don't anybody-"<br>"We heard what you said, we're just shocked, is all. Of course we care about you, Lightning," said Jo, "in fact, we're having steak for dinner in your honor."

Lightning's eyes lit up at this and he did a victory run back and forth from one end of the cave to the other shouting "Sha-BOOYAH!"  
>"How come you're up there, bigmouth?" I asked her, "Fraid o takin me on?" I petended to make fisticuffs at her.<br>"Yeah I'm afraid-" she said, "Afraid you're wrong!" Then she looked like she was actually gonna jump down off o there, everybody froze and Brick even stepped forward for a sec. Then she laughed- she got us good dere.

"Permission to suggest the Reveille?" I asked.  
>"That doesn't have any words, cadet!" she said.<br>"It might not have any words- but it sure speaks to me." I answered. I missed my alarm clock.  
>Cameron raised his hand.<br>"I'm not singing _The Wheels on the Bus_, so you can just forget about asking" said Jo.  
>"I wasn't going to request that!" he said defensively.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>CAMERON<strong>

I thought everybody liked that song...

* * *

><p><strong>BRICK<strong>

"Ah, to hell with you guys- I'm gonna keep singing what I want." She said, "You guys just try and keep up."  
>Anne Maria put her hands on her hips and stuck her tongue out at Jo, who gave her the backwards V sign and started singing Eye of the Tiger at an amazing pitch.<p>

"**It's the eye of the tiiiger -it's the thrill of the fight! Rising up to the challenge of our riiivallls!**"

Vito turned to Anne Maria, "Wanna take this set o' wheels out for a spin?" he said, cocking his eyebrow, "And by set o' wheels, I mean my tanned body." Anne Maria smiled at him and the two of them started dancing.  
>My eyes went right back to Jo. The lights floated across her as she sang, pumping her hand in the air, like they do at the Olympics. She was all over the place and crazy and fun and intense all at the same time.<br>"Take it away, Brickhouse!" she shouted as I continued to hit the coal pot.  
>It was a side of her that I hardly saw, and I liked it.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>SCOTT<strong>

I had to be more careful this time on my way over to Chris's cabin. I knew Cheffy was going to try to get at me the first chance he got, Of course, I could get him first, but I didn't have that kind of time. I started to make my way through the thick snow that had piled up in the woods.  
>Chris had left the kitchen door wide open, it was too easy...I looked around...no sign of the apron-wearing Yeti anywhere. I ducked into the house and shifted around the corridors. It was quiet...too quiet...<br>''**_What_** is Ryan Seacrest's face doing on my eight foot plasma screen TV?" shouted Chris from the living room  
>"I wouldn't be afraid of the competition if I were you-" came Blainely's reply, "You've still got the biggest head from here to Dawson City."<br>"That TV isn't for watching 'Crimes of Fashion' or any of your other little celebrity gossip shows." he answered, "quality programming only." There was a click of the remote followed by the sound of an announcer

-"Are you ready for your **mind** to be _**blown**_? Well get ready for the most _**spine-tingling**_, _**blood chilling**_,_** eye-bursting**_

semi-professional badminton marathon you've ever **_witnessed_**!"-

There was a dramatic sigh of exhasperation from Blaineley.  
>"We don't have time for this anyways, we're supposed to head down to the docks to intro the show, remember?"<br>"Aawwwhh, man!" said Chris, stamping on the floor, "I never get to have any fun."  
>There was the sound of dragging feet and a door slammed. Now that they'd stopped bickering so loud, the sound of my picking the lock to the control room door echoed in the hall. I could hear Chef snoring a few doors down. He must've finally thawed out.<br>_Click_  
>I was in. The room was dark, the only light came from the hidden camera TV screens. There were more than I could count, maybe even twenty. From one of them I could see everyone in the main cave, it was kinda weird to be in here watching all of them, while they still thought they were stuck. They were tiny on that screen. It was hard to tear my eyes away but I looked for the file drawer.<br>There were alotta drawers but I kinda knew what I was looking for. If it was important, it'd have a lock on it. That narrowed it down to two.  
>There was quiet for a moment as Chef stopped snoring, I paused uneasily, but then the snoring continued. I needed to be quick. One drawer had smudges on the handle. The other was clean.<br>I picked the second one: if something's important, you only check it when you really need it.  
>After some time of adjusting the paperclip in the lock I managed to get it open. There were a bunch of files in there, files on all the past contestants, in alphabetical order- from Alejandro to Zeke. I rifled past all of them.<p>

Then there were the ones on us. I pulled out the one on Lightning -it had the DVD of his audition in it, and on the inside cover it read ''Lance "Lightning" Bell."  
><em>Lance Bell<em>? And I thought _Beverly_ was a dumb name.  
>Under his name Chris had scibbled "(This guy won't quit until he's taken some serious damage)" next was Anne's-<br>**Anne Maria Esposti:** "(She's obsessed with her hair, but I think a radioactive marshmallow might cure her of that.)" I could almost hear Chris's sick laughter.  
><strong>Brick McArthur:<strong> "( Thinks his military training's gonna give him an advantage. Let's just see about that.)"  
>I flipped through the rest of them, but not quick enough to miss an incredibly lame pun about 'bursting the Bubble-Boy's bubble.'<br>For a second I thought I saw a picture in Jo's folder of her in a big fancy dress with frills on the sleeves and a tiara, but then I realised it was just her mom. She was wearing a pageant sash and was being presented with a wreath of red roses.  
><em>Guess competition runs in the family<em>, I thought.  
>I checked Zoey's, it just said "(definitely a cryer.)"<br>I figured these were the reasons McLean had chosen us for the show. I checked mine:

"Trouble" was all it said. I smiled. Well you were right about one thing, Chris, but I guess you didn't count on how much,  
>I thought as I found what I was looking for.<br>**Mike Denney:** "[Multiple Personality Disorder :** M**akes **P**eople **D**ramatic **:)** ]"  
>Perfect...Just what I needed to- did Chris actually add a drawing of a smiley face? Oh, wait, I'd read it wrong, it looked more like:<p>

**:)**

I stopped. Behind me was the sound of a slow door creak, followed by the low laugh of Chef Hatchet.  
>"Surprise, punk." he said. He was holding a tranquilizer dart aimed right at my forehead. I looked around, there was Chris's mug. I nabbed it by the handle and gave him a face-full of coffee before dashing outta there while he swore and wiped his eyes.<br>Shoot, I'd forgotten the file, well, couldn't go back now. I was in the living room, he'd pushed a whole shelf to block the door, I knew I couldn't push that away in time.  
>I looked around frantically, I heard his footsteps in the hall. Then I found my exit strategy.<br>Chef stepped into the room.  
>"Nowhere to run, punk."<br>When he didn't see me he began to advance towards the couch, saying  
>"Nowhere to hide."<br>He jumped onto the couch and fired three shots behind it, when he realised I wasn't there I stepped out from behind the TV cupboard  
>and held out the dynamite for him to see.<br>"What the- I thought I got rid of all of those-" he said.  
>"All except one." I answered. It dawned on him that I'd pocketed one of the sticks of dynamite I'd found in the shed.<br>Smiling darkly, I stuck the dynamite into the fireplace, and let the fuse light up.  
>Then I opened the door of the cupboard and placed the explosive right on top of Chris's big screen TV.<br>His eyes widened, he knew he had to come get it, but he wouldn't move and the dart gun was still aimed at me.  
>I spoke,"Chris won't be too happy if he sees his pride and glory blown up to smithereens..."<br>He frowned hard and put the gun down. Then he opened the cupboard and grabbed the stick of dynamite. When he turned around he wasn't surprised to see me holding the dart gun. But he wasn't afraid either.  
>"You just made a <em>big mistake<em>, kid." he spoke,  
>"All you got in that gun is one tiny dart." then he advanced towards me and said "I've got a stick of dynamite."<br>He tossed the stick at the floor at my feet. He grinned all satisfied as the fuse ran down, but his grin faded when he realised I wasn't hurrying to bend down and pick it up, both hands on the gun, I was aiming it right at him.  
>The flame touched the base of the candle. He backed away across the room.<br>I picked it up.  
>"What are you doin, fool? that's a live-"<br>"Decorative candle," I said before sniffing it, "Mm..._Cinnamony_." Before he could respond I fired a dart. It hit him right in the leg. He glared at me as he fell over onto the floor  
>"This ain't over yet, kid." he said, "It's just begun."<br>I put the candle back where I'd found it on the mantle and left.  
>"Till next time, Cheffy." I said and headed for the control room, stopping by at the kitchen to get some snacks.<br>I made my way back to the mine. I decided to walk under the thicket of trees where there was no snow on the ground. I took out Mike's file and skimmed it. Now I had everything I needed. This was easy, everything was coming together perfectly. I just needed to take the next step-  
>Yowch! I fell on my knees. I had tripped on a stupid piece of string that was tied between two trees. Was this the best trap Chef could think of? I tried to pull myself up. I couldn't, my hands and knees were stuck.<br>_Stupid crazy glue._

* * *

><p>When Chris and Blainely came back from the docks Chris was in a good mood. That was the last time he'd have to deal with Blainely hogging half his screen time, trying to show him up on his show. Starting tomorrow he'd be the host with the most, the host with a billion dollars, specifically. So Chris was in a good mood, that is until he found the living room in a mess, with a shelf blocking the front door, darts all over the floor, and dirty boot prints on the couch.<br>"Che-eff.." Chris whined.  
>"Wasn't me, it was that red-headed punk." came Chef's response.<br>"Quit playing around with the kid, he can't do any real damage." said Blaineley.  
>"Oh yeah? He was snoopin around the control room today, took the schizo's file." replied Chef.<br>"He did?" Chris asked. The kid could get into the control room, that wasn't good...  
>"Good. As far as I see, he's doing his job." said Blaineley, turning up the heat on the fireplace.<br>"How do you figure that?" asked Chris.  
>"If that kid is as sneaky as he looks, he's probably just digging up dirt on the guy." said Blaineley with calm,"and if you wanna make big money, you gotta make big <em>drama<em>."  
>Chris grinned at this, and Blaineley couldn't help giving a smirk in return.<br>"Yeah, leave the kid alone, Chef- We can always bump him off later." said Chris, and when Blaineley left the room he continued,

"For now, we've got bigger, blonde-er fish to fry." He rubbed his hands together in anticipation of their plan.  
>"Chef, whip up some turkey pot pie! -And make <em>Mildread<em>'s extra mutant-y. She's gonna need to be asleep when we put operation Hostess Hush-up into action."

* * *

><p><strong>SCOTT<strong>

When I came back to the cave I gave Zoey the twine and sat next to her on a crate. I could see the drinks had gotten eveybody all loopy. Jo and Brick were makin noise on one side of the cave and Mike was dancing with Anne Maria. Zoey looked like she was trying not to see them,_ good_, she needed to be mad at him for my plan to work.  
>"Found this down in one of the deeper tunnels," I said, handing her the twine-wrapped stick.<br>"Thanks, Scott! This is great," she said, unravelling the end of it, "do you have anything I could use for needles?" she looked up at me.  
>"Um..." I dug around in my pocket and pulled out a pair of iron nails. "How bout these?"<br>"Actually, those should work just fine," she said, beaming, "Now I can get some crocheting done..." she immediately looped the twine  
>around the needle and started weaving, "It's kind of a hobby of mine...heh" she laughed nervously, then added "thanks again, Scott, do you want me to stitch up your jeans? Or is that like a thing or"<br>She was pointing at the rips where my knees were from getting out of a certain sticky situation.  
>"I'm just gonna leave em like that for now actually." I said.<br>"Yeah, I know what you mean, back home I distress jeans by myself too." She said, smiling.  
>Man, it was pretty easy to win this girl's trust. Hopefully it could be broken easily too...<br>I got up from the crate to go-  
>"Thanks again Scott," she said,<br>"Sure, Zoey," I answered, putting a hand on her shoulder, "you know I got your back."

* * *

><p><strong>ANNE MARIA<strong>

Zoey an Scott were over dere lookin all ga-ga at eachother and givin eachother tips how to rip up a perfectly good pair o jeans and knit ironical t-shirts outta yarn-  
>typical hipsters. I guess it made sense that they were an item- pasty gingers have to stick together.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>ZOEY<strong>

Scott sure was creepy, and he smelled really weird, oh no- what if he's really self-conscious about it? I did feel kind of sorry for him, he spent all his time down in the tunnels trying to get us a  
>way out of here, and he'd even brought me stuff to crochet with, it would be good to have something to do...<br>-In the centre of the cave, Vito took Anne Maria's hand and spun her around.-  
>...I was glad for some distraction.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>LIGHTNING<strong>

Lightnin was exhausted after pushin around those crates for Joe, Lightnin was hungry, too!  
>Lightnin was sitting down on a rock to catch his breath -when all of a sudden Lightnin heard a voice in his pants!<br>"_Liiiightniiiing, it's meeeee_" said the voice. It was scary -not that Lightnin was scared or nuthin- Lightnin reached into his pocket and pulled out his can of Voom.  
>"<em>Liiiiiightniiiiiing...<em>" it said.  
>Lightnin's can of Voom was talkin to him!<br>"_Liiiiightning, you must driiiiink me. Drink me and become eeeenergiiiiized, Drink me and become wiiiiiiise,_  
><em>Drink me...and become poooowerfuuuulll.<em>"

"Wait a minute!" Lightnin shouted, "Do you want Lightnin to drink you or somethin?"  
>"<em>Yeeeeessss that is what I just saaaaiiiiid. Perfection is at your fiiiiingertiiiiips, all you have to do is driiiiink meeeeeee<em>"  
>"Lightnin thinks your voice is annoyin!"<p>

Lightnin snatched up that can and drank it all up. It tasted good.  
>"Mm! Lightnin does feel energized!"<br>Now the voice was coming from inside of Lightnin!

"_Eeeeexcelleeeeent, now you are imbuuuuued with ultimate poooooowers of-_"  
>"Psshh, Aw man! Lightnin drank you so just to make you shut up, now Lightnin's gotta hear your voice comin from within?" Lightnin's gonna go bash his head against some rocks till this goes away-"<br>"_What? No, liiiiisten to meeeeeee, don't you wiiiiiiiish to receive uuuuuuuutlimate pooooower_?"  
>"Fine, all right Voom voice, what do I gotta do." I said, folding my arms.<br>"_You are a peeeeeeerfect aaaaaathlete, Lance._"  
>"Nuh-uh. Lightnin don't respond to that name no more."<br>"_Alriiiiiight, Lightning, youuuuuu are peeeeerfeeeeect..._"  
>"Pshh- Ya got that right, Voom-can!"<br>"_peeeeerrrfeeeect, but-_"  
>"Butt?" asked Lightnin,<br>"Lightnin's got a perfect butt? Well thanks Voom voice but I'm not really interested in datin weird mystical objects. "

The can was quiet for a moment, it probably couldn't stand being rejected by Lightnin.  
>"<em>Aaaaanyways, There is anooooother in this caaaaave who shaaaaaares your agiiiiility, your thirst for perfeeeeection, and your commiiiiitment to talking ooooonly in the third peeeerrrrrson<em>."  
>"What third person?" Lightnin asked, suspicious-like, "I thought you said there was <em>one<em> other!"  
>"<em>Yeeeeessss, there iiiiiis, and that other iiiiiis...Svetlaaaaanaaa...<em>"  
>"Who? Gymnast girl? Lightnin hasn't seen her in ages." said Lightnin.<br>"_Theeeere she iiiiiis_" said the voice, the can fell over even though there wasn't any wind. It was pointin to the tall one next to Orange girl.  
>"That's Svetlana?" Lightnin asked, wide-eyed, "She's...she's..."<br>"_Yeeeeesss she's not in her tyyyyypical foooooorm but-_"  
>"She's BEAUTIFUL!" shouted Lightning,<br>"Oh Voom Voice, Lightnin has been BLIND to the truth for so LONG!- Lightnin's gotta find a way to win her over!"  
>"<em>Uh...for the reeeeeecord...I just meant you should join foooooorces with her, togeeeeether you could be<em>"  
>"The perfect pairin! Just lke Brad and Angelina- or peanut butter and eggs!"<br>"_Peanutbutter and-?...ohhhh my Gooood...you really aaaaare an iiiiiimbecile._"  
>"What's an imbecile? Do girls like that? Lightnin needs to know how to get his girl, speak to me, Voom Voice!" Lightnin was on his knees before the can at this point.<br>"_No waaaay, man. I ain't getting invooooolved in thiiiiisssssss_"  
>And just like that the voice was gone. and now Lightnin was left to cut across the dance floor to where Svetlana was standin, the image of grace and femininity.<p>

* * *

><p>"Ey, check it, I can crush dis on my forehead." said Vito, grabbing the Voom can and bashing it against his skull.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>LIGHTNING<strong>

Lightnin didn't really know any girls, far as he knew there were only guys on his football team. What did girls like? Girls liked getting tackled, right?

* * *

><p>Lightning changed his pace into a run and Vito's eyes widened in surprise as he saw him, too late to avoid the over-enthusiastic athlete's body-slam of love.<br>Vito got up and curled his hands into fists  
>"Now it's your turn!" said Lightning<p>

* * *

><p><strong>SCOTT<strong>

Sparky came back from a beating from Vito. He looked sore, but he wasn't givin up anytime soon.  
>"Man, that girl can punch!" he said, sitting next to me<br>"Girl?" I asked, then I remembered I was talking to the world's first blind quarterback.  
>"Yeah, a girl- <em>some<em> of us like girls." he said  
>My eyes narrowed, then I thought of something.<br>"Hey, you know what girls_ do_ like, though.." I said,  
>"Girls<em> really like it<em> when guys serenade em, go over there and sing a song, just for her."  
>He bought it, must've been pretty desperate.<br>"I'll do it! Thanks, Ugly dude!" he said as he dashed off.

* * *

><p><strong>LIGHTNIN<strong>

Lightnin knew if he had to prove to Svetlana his love was real-er than real, he needed to sing the purest, strongest love song ever- you know, the one about that one guy who'll never give up on his girl.

* * *

><p><strong>SCOTT<strong>

Across the cave I heard his obnoxious voice ring out,

"**Never gonna give you up! Never gonna let you dooown, Lightnin's never gonna run aroouund an deseeert you,**" he was standing on a rock next to Vito and pretending to play a keyboard erratically,  
>Across the cave Jo facepalmed and Brick raised his eyebrow, Anne Maria even looked offended.<br>"**Never gonna make you cry- never gonna saaayy goodbye- Lightnin's never gonna tell a liee, and hurt- _Ow!_**"  
>Vito threw a can at Lightning, frowning, "Would you get da heck away from me," he said, "I'm tryina dance with my girl over here."<br>Lightning came back, looking even more upset.  
>"It didn't work, Ugly dude!" he said, "She's too busy hangin out with her friend to pay any attention to Lightnin."<br>_Why_ did everyone keep calling me ugly? I had the urge to punch him, but I'd probably lose if we fought hand-to-hand. So I chose another way to mess with him.  
>"You wanna get her to notice? Girls can't help noticing cheap stunts." I said.<br>"Like what?" he said, he was eager enough to try everything, and dumb enough to try anything. I tried not to grin  
>"Hmm...Jumping off that pile o' rocks ought to do it." I said, pointing across to the other side of the cave. That'd give me a good view.<br>Without even stopping to think he ran over climbed to the top of the pile of rocks, Jo was up there, still singing.  
>"Outta the way, Joe. This is a matter of <em>love<em>." He pushed Jo off. Army boy caught her though so nobody went splat.

* * *

><p><strong>BRICK<strong>

Lightning had pushed Jo off of the rock pillar. Luckily I caught her, it had been really close.  
>And now we were really close, I thought.<br>I wanted to keep holding her like that but I put her back down.  
>"Nice catch, cadet." she said, I blushed despite myself. "Gimme a high five!" she shouted, thrusting her right hand out of her sling and into the air.<br>"Ma'am? That's not a very good idea," I said, "permission to suggest you use your left hand and-"  
>"Come onnn Brickhouse, I thought we had an understanding!" she looked directly at me,<br>"If your hand doesn't hit mine by the time I count to three, I'm dissolving this team." she said, closing her eyes in resolution.  
>Did she really mean that?<br>"**Three**..."  
>Or was it just a joke?<br>"**Two**..."  
>What was going on in her head?<br>"**One!**" she looked at me furiously. I sighed and patted my hand against hers.

"Come on Brick, you've got to do better than that." she said, raising her hand again.  
>She called me Brick! Without thinking I swung my hand at hers. They smacked on impact. Darn, that stung, I rubbed my hand, but Jo was smiling triumphantly, even though the force had made her wince.<br>"See? -That's what makes it get better," she said, putting her hand back into the sling, "a little bit of pain never hurt anyone."  
>"I'm thinkin I wanna go take a break." she said, "You with me?"<br>"Uh, sure!" I said.  
>I following her over to the carts where we climbed into one and sat across from eachother.<br>"I'd say today was a victory, how bout you, cadet?" she asked.  
>"A victory?" I asked, not sure where she was going with this, "You mean the rescue mission?"<br>"Well yeah,_ that_- but the _music_- the _music_ was** epic**." She said clenching her fist. "We make a pretty awesome team-best team I've ever been on, anyways." she leaned back against the side of the cart."You've been on a team?," I asked, "I thought you didn't play team sports."  
>"-Don't anymore, but I used to. It's a long story cadet, you don't wanna hear it."<br>"Yes I do." I said, wondering now what it was.  
>"Trust me, it's long, and boring and...intense." she finished.<br>"I'd..love for you to tell me... -I don't care if it's long." I said, leaning closer.  
>Her eyebrows were furrowed but she gave a small smile and started talking.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>JO<strong>

So I told him the story that began way back, when I was a kid with long pigtails. No wonder I was such a slow ice-skater back then, long hair is terrible for your wind resistance.  
>Anywyas I'd been skating figure eights one day at the public rink when I'd seen him, Spence, training with the local hockey team. Our town's team was called the Snakes, which is about the dumbest thing you can name a hockey team in Canada. I was watching him hit goal after goal across the ice, like he wasn't even trying. Someone sent a stray puck in my direction and he grinned at me when he picked it up. He was missing at least three teeth- he must've been one serious player. I knew then that I had it bad for him, it felt like someone had put an icy-hot pack down my shirt without warning, but I liked it. I used to spend my days hardly caring about anything back then, my mother was always off winning some pageant title and dad only took me on fishing trips because he had to. One thing I used to like doing was fly my kite though, I used to bring it along with me. That was all I did at the fishing spot- though sometimes I'd catch butterflies in a jar, the blue kind that show up in the spring. Other than that, there wasn't much to do when dad took his #1 son fishing. They'd usually ignore me the whole time anyways. Afterwards I'd show him the butterflies I'd caught, or tell him how high I got my kite to fly. He'd pause whatever playful argument he was having with Randy over who'd caught the biggest pike to say, "that's nice, princess."<br>Of course you couldn't expect much more than that, what kind of dad ever gave a heaping hoot about frilly girly stuff like butterflies? Definitely not the kind of dad who split his time between spectator sports and fishing trips with Randy, the regional fishing champion. So of course he'd been surprised when I came home one day asking him to teach me to play hockey.  
>After that everything was different. We spent every afternoon together with him teaching me techniques, strategies and plays, helping me keep the stick steady with his hands on mine, whooping when I got the puck past him:<br>"Nice goin'Jo!"  
>We went to games together almost as much as he went fishing with Randy.<br>After a few months I'd become a pretty competent player. But I knew it wasn't enough, I knew I needed to be at a hundred percent. I'd get up early every day and skate. I trained till my knees were weak and every hockey game I watched with my dad I now looked at with a keen eye for every move, every maneuver, every mistake. The next time I met Spence it was over the thin ice of the lake at the edge of the woods.

"Heard you're good." he said, smiling. I was so nervous, I didn't say anything- So I showed him. I was good. I was very good. I beat him, but it was a close match.  
>"Seems to me you're a natural." He'd said. I felt like I was on top of the world for about a second- and he'd left. After that we met every other day on that lake, facing off, one day I'd win, one day he'd win, then we'd shake hands and then he'd have to hurry off to 'real practice' with his team.<p>

I joined the Snakes.

It was the first time a girl had joined so it was a pretty big deal in our town. Of course it was just a trial membership, but it didn't stop Dad from buying me a complete uniform kit, complete with a new set of skates. I was placed as a defenseman, the other one was Spence.

After the first few practices the Snakes really started to think I was a great addition. It didn't matter what they thought, though, as long as Spence held me in high regard. It felt good being on a team then, knowing you were knockin shoulders with the eight other people in the world that had your back no matter what. It didn't even matter that I wasn't in on the pre-game pep talk, that I sat in the empty girl's locker room by myself, all I needed for a pep talk was to look at those skates and hear Spence's voice outside the door speaking more softly than he did to the others,"You ready, Josephine?" (he always called me that, even though the rest of the team just called me Jo. I used to like that.)  
>After one very good game me and Spence got about a hundred pats on the back, we went home sore all over but it was worth it to hear him say, "Nice job, Josephine."<br>On the way home that day Dad had called me his number one kid. I was on top of the world. But that was before everything got royally screwed up. No, not the regional tournament, we won that. My picture was in the paper and everything.

I still remember the day I'd run over to practice, holding the paper and raising my arm for a high-five. But he didn't slap my hand, and he wasn't smiling.  
>"It's in the papers-" I said breathlessly, "how we won!"<br>He sneered at me, I'd never seen him sneer like that before.  
>"You mean how <em>we<em> won," he said, "_you_ cheated."  
>"...What?" I asked, bemused.<br>"You heard me." he said. The others had quit playing and had gathered around behind him, they didn't look happy either.  
>"How?" I asked, still in confusion.<br>"We found your stuff." he said, holding out a pack of yellow tablets.  
>"What? Spence- c'mon...it's me- you don't believe I actually-"<br>He cut across me harshly,

"When we let you on our team, it was because we thought you could hold your own against us guys without having to resort to this. Don't you even care about this team? If they'd found out about this we'd have been disqualified."  
>"What?" I said, looking around from face to face, not one showed any indication that this was all some kind of sick joke. "No way, Spence, c'mon, it's me- you've seen me play...you said I was a natural!" I stepped closer to him, searching his eyes for anything other than disgust.<br>"I said it was _unnatural_." he said, stepping back, "a girl being able to play like that. I guess I was skeptical from the stat but...I wanted to give you a chance." he shut his eyes and turned away.  
>"Wait! It's not true! These must be somebody else's! I-" they didn't stop walking away, "you guys!" my voice pleaded, but they'd left. The door swung shut and I was alone on that white oval ice rink.<p>

All of a sudden I realized how cold it was. I just stood there frozen to the spot.  
>How could he? Didn't he trust me at all? Why would somebody put pills in my locker?<br>I looked at the picture on the newspaper more closely. There I was, holding the trophy and being carried off by my cheering teammates. All except for one. Where was Spence? My eyes scanned the picture for a few moments before I found him, walking in the opposite direction from us-towards the locker rooms- watching us and looking distinctly un-cheerful.

I crushed the paper in my hands and kicked the bag of pills across the ice.

That **_jerk_**. He'd set me just couldn't stand being second to a girl. So he'd done this. He'd turned them against me. So I'd look like a bitch and he could play the hero.  
>He wasn't the one with the trophy though.<br>I walked out of that rink forever that day, I didn't look back. I realized that team sports were a waste of my time, that there was _no such thing_ as a team. Out there, it's a competition through and through- and people would do anything to win. People pretended they cared about you, but they didn't. I realized that I didn't like people so much.

At the end of the day it's every man for himself, and it was that much harder if you weren't a man.  
>So for the next few years I'd pushed myself into anything you could come first at, that didn't involve a team, and soon there were more medals, ribbons and trophies than there was wall in my room, and soon the house. Randy had moved out and joined some weird experimental band that made music with paperclips and my dad wasn't really on board with that. I was fixed as his favourite now anyways. But the drive to win never wavered for me. I needed to prove myself, over and over. There was always satisfaction in triumph that made it worth the effort, and worth the pain.<p>

After I told him my story, Brickhouse was quiet for a while. He looked like he wanted to say something and I braced myself for some self-righteous speech about the value of teamwork.  
>"I'm sorry that happened to you, Jo" he said. He'd stopped looking at the floor and was looking at me, his eyes were full of something, but it wasn't pity, and it wasn't mockery. I could usually read a person with expert accuracy, but tonight my senses were blurry.<br>It looked to me like something else, and it looked for a second like it might actually be...genuine.

* * *

><p><em>~Night time.<em>  
>Dark, peaceful. Snow coated the ground and glowed in the moonlight- or it could have just been the radioactivity. Somewhere in the woods a mutant owl was hooting softly, it's round yellow eyes fixed on a mouse that chittered as it ran along the forest floor. The owl swooped down gracefully beside the mouse, then it turned it's face 361 degrees to reveal a claw like appendage growing on the back of it's head which snatched up the mouse and reached over to drop it into the owl's beak. The mouse shot a telekenetic beam out of it's brain which made the bird levitate a few feet in the air, before slamming it against a tree trunk. The owl lay stunned on the ground, the mouse jumped out of its claws and ran away, victorious.<br>_~Night time._

* * *

><p>Chris advanced slowly and quietly out of the living room and onto the porch. He was wearing the same suit he'd worn to the box office party for Badminton Movie.<br>"I don't see why you gotta be dressed like that." said Chef gruffly as he came to lean on the doorway.  
>"It's camo! And be quiet, if she wakes up -it's game over, man." replied Chris in a whisper.<br>"Admit it, you're just wearing black because you been taking what she said about you gainin weight seriously." Said Chef.  
>"I don't care what she says," said Chris crossly, "and it's <em>onyx,<em> not black."  
>This was it, the moment of truth. Blainely lay in the hammock on the patio. Chris watched her carefully, her long eyelashes gently flickered and her arm hung out of the hammock, her hand brushing the floor as it swung in the cold night breeze. Chris nodded back to Chef, she was definitely out.<br>Good thing she snores like a seven-forty-seven ,thought Chris as he leaned over her. Her lipstick was cherry red and her mouth made a small perfect 'O'  
>For a moment Chris stared blankly, forgetting what he was doing. Then he shook his head.<p>

'O' as in: it's Over, Blainely, he reminded himself as he uncorked the vial with a small pop.  
>He let fall three drops of the liquid into her mouth.<br>Then he watched her cautiously.  
>For a moment she squinched her eyes and her brow furrowed slightly, then she relaxed again in deep sleep.<br>The vial was almost empty, one more ought to do it.  
>-A loud bellowing voice broke the silence:<p>

**SUNDAY, SUNDAY, SUNDAY, IT'S OFFTRACK DIRTBIKE FUNDAY!**

They whipped their heads around to see where it was coming from, Scott had turned on the big screen TV and was watching what seemed to be the world's most obnoxious TV show.  
>"Oh," he said, noticing they were there, and lowering the volume "Don't mind me."<br>Chef growled and made strangling gestures with his hands. Chris looked at him and shook his head. They couldn't afford to make any more sounds. And Chris knew that the first half of a strangling would be really noisy.  
>Chef sighed and looked at Scott murderously. Scott just smirked and put his dirty shoes up on the coffee table.<br>"Can I at least whack him with a cushion?" he asked in a low voice.  
>Chris rolled his eyes and gave a nod, adding;"But <em><strong>Shhh<strong>_."  
>Blainely chose this moment to awaken, blinking and looking bemused at Chris, who was leaning over her, his finger still to his lips from shushing Chef.<br>"What..." she said arching an eyebrow at him, "are you doing?"  
>"Blaineley!" he said in surprise,<br>"Um...I was just uh..." he looked to Chef for help but he seemed to be engaged in a furious silent cushion fight with Scott, who was losing sorely.  
>"Waiting till I was asleep just so you could gaze at me in the moonlight?" she said tauntingly.<br>"Yes! I mean -no I mean..." said Chris, stashing the vial away in his jacket pocket. Blaineley's eye had caught the movement and she was looking suspicious, he had to act quickly,  
>"Yeah...truth is I...<em>really<em>..." he forced the words out through gritted teeth, "..._like_ you. I can't pretend any longer." Blaineley looked at him in surprise for a second before regaining her calm expression.  
>"And why are you wearing a suit?" she asked, looking him up and down and beginning to file her nails. She didn't believe this one bit.<br>"Be..cause...you've only got one life to live?" replied Chris.  
>Blaineley looked at him with annoyance and said,<p>

"Chris, this has been fun and all but this stupid prank or whatever it is really starting to piss me off-"

"No! I wasn't pranking you- I" This was going really bad really quick.  
>"Come one Chris, don't insult my intelligence," she said, "You and I both know this is just some-"<br>he stopped her with a kiss, pulling her to him with his hand on the small of her back. Chris's eyes were pressed shut while Blaineley's eyes widened. She dropped her nail file.  
>Scott and Chef stopped their fighting and stared at the two, then they looked at eachother in shock.<br>When he pulled away from her she blinked and then, regaining her composure said,  
>"Well then...um...that was-"<br>"-great...uh..Yeah, well-"  
>"-I...gotta go..." Said Chris. They were both retreating slowly and awkwardly.<br>"-Yeah...excuse me, I have to take this" finished Blaineley, flipping open her cellphone. When they had backed away far enough they turned their backs and hurried off to their respective ends of the cabin.

* * *

><p>Chris met a smug faced Chef in the living room.<br>"What was that, McLean?" he asked.  
>"That, my dear Chef, was a kiss of <strong><em>neccessity<em>**." replied Chris.  
>"Okay-but why was it neccessary?" asked Chef, raising an eyebrow.<br>"She was getting all ask-y!" said Chris, defensively, "I couldn't let her suspect us of anything."  
>Scott was making smooching noises in the background until Chef tossed a well-aimed pillow at him, knocking him off the couch<br>"_Ow!_" Glaring and rubbing his side, Scott left the room.  
>"How come she still sounds the same?" Chris voiced the thing that had been worrying his mind since Blaineley had woke up.<br>"I dunno. Must take a while to work." said Chef, shrugging. Then he eyed Chris smugly and added  
>"-Let's hope while you two were busy makin out you didn't get a dose of it yourself."<br>Chris sent him a dagger stare and then stormed off to his room.

* * *

><p>"When I said to play nice that wasn't exactly what I meant." came the deep voice on the other end of Blaineley's line.<p>

"Very funny. I just went with it because..." Blaineley tried to find the right words.  
>"Because we don't want him on our scent." finished the voice.<br>"Yeah..." said Blaineley, looking distracted. She didn't notice that the man on the other end of the line had already hung up, and was leaning back in his chair and chuckling darkly as he put down his phone.

* * *

><p><strong>SCOTT<strong>

I listened in on Chris's conversation with Chef. I knew what they were talking about. I'd gone digging around for where Chef had stored all that dynamite and when I was reaching a shelf in the closet I'd found a box, and when I picked it up it was leaking yellow stuff, yellow stuff that kinda glowed. All the box said was _**'for dessert'**_ and I got the feeling that they were planning to slip it into something they knew I'd take from the fridge, I knew they wanted to bump me off, cut me out of their deal, but I didn't know they'd go that far. But it had been for Blaineley, something to do with her voice. It just goes to show -you gotta watch your back. I'd tipped it out and filled it back up with lemonade from the fridge. So whatever he'd planned didn't work out. It didn't do much to ease my mind.  
>If Chris was trying to bump off Blaineley, who knew what he had planned for me...<br>I grabbed some more stuff to eat on the way back to the mine, there was an intern fixing the kitchen door and I made to squeeze past him.  
>"Watch your step." He said squeakily. I shuddered,<br>And people say_ I_ have a weird voice.

* * *

><p><strong>CAMERON<strong>

Zoey and I had gone to the food stock room to retrieve the pot of beets for dinner. We'd made the mistake of opening a heavy crate that ended up containing several burst cans and a multitude of fascinating species of mould and fungi, but I wasn't able to classify them as we were consumed in a cloud of spores. After that we'd run out of there with the beets, and our flashlight went out. I stepped onto a panel of old wood that gave way instantly. I fell about seventeen point five feet down into a dark pit. My first time in a mineshaft! But not quite, there was an underground river down here, it felt like it was pulling down in the direction of the lake. There was water up to my knees and it was pushing me with a quantity of force that felt sufficient to push me over, and take me with it where there was very little space between the water surface and the stalactites that lined its low ceiling.  
>Zoey had called for help and everyone had come running. Brick tried holding a broken pickaxe down for me to reach but it was too short.<br>You mean you're too short. I thought.  
>"We could lower someone down there so they could reach him and pull them out."<br>"I'll do it." Said Jo, stepping forward.  
>"No- you can't!" said Brick.<br>"You saying I'm not strong enough to-" began Jo furiously,  
>"No, I <em>know<em> you're strong enough." Said Brick, smiling at her with confidence "But whoever goes has to be able to use both hands."  
>"Understood. Mike, hold onto Brick and get Cameron out of there."<br>But Vito was much more preoccupied with kissing Anne Maria to do anything.

"Mike!" I said, in the loudest voice I could muster. No response. I had observed how quickly he could switch back from his other personalities when he saw Zoey was in danger and I was a bit surprised the same thing didn't happen when it was me.  
>Jo was peering overhead into the darkness,<br>"What's that you've got down there, Cameron? Anything that can get you out?"  
>"No, it's just the dinner.." I said, holding up the pot of beets.<br>"Did somebody say **_steak_**?" Lightning shouted, running out of nowhere and looking down the mineshaft. Instead of looking disappointed when he espied the pot full of chopped beets all he did was shout "Sha-Bingo! Medium rare, just like Lightnin likes it!"  
>"No, Lightning, that's not actually-" started Zoey, but she was shushed by Jo who said,<br>"Let's tell him _after_ he rescues the kid."

* * *

><p><strong>LIGHTNING<strong>

Lightnin was ready to jump into that hole and get his well-deserved steak. But then Lightnin saw his girl makin out with her friend! That was when Lightnin knew he had a heart- because it was BREAKIN!  
>Lightnin almost did something Lightnin's never done: give up.<p>

But then, Lightnin remembered something, something important, something that always rang true in Lightnin's _soul_:

**Lightnin really loves steak!**

And with that- Lightnin flung himself over the edge of the pit.

* * *

><p><strong>CAMERON<strong>

Lightning flung himself at me, but I don't think he even knew I was down here, he just grabbed the pot of beets. Luckily I held on tight, and Brick pulled Lightning out by the ankles. After that Lightning ran off, hugging the pot to himself and shoveling spoonful after spoonful of beets into his mouth.  
>We all waited until the moment he realized he wasn't eating steak, but all he said was<p>

"Man, Lightnin hasn't eaten steak in so long! Lightnin thought he was gonna forget what meat tasted like!"  
>When he finished he ran over to the carts, and lifted one up above his head, "Lightnin feels so<em> pumped<em>! It's like the protein is fillin up Lightnin's brain!"  
>"So that's what's up there." Said Jo in a low tone, "I was wondering what was keeping that head of yours from being completely hollow."<p>

The others tried to hide their laughter, not that Lightning would have noticed, he was lifting the cart up and down.  
>"Check Lightnin out-" said Lightning, "one hand!" he pulled one hand out from under the cart so its weight rested on one of his muscular arms.<br>"How about _no_ hands?" suggested Scott, "Nah, I don't think you could handle that."  
>"No way Lightnin's gonna fall for that!" shouted Lightning "Lightnin ain't some kinda fool."<br>"Oh yeah? Well which one of my hands is holding up the most fingers?" Scott held up four fingers on one hand and three on the other.  
>"That one!" shouted Lightning, pointing at Scott's left hand, unfortunately for him he pointed with the hand that had been the only thing keeping the cart from crushing him.<br>"Ow!" said Lightning.

Nobody else was really hungry, despite the cold. It must have been a combination of high blood alchohol content and dancing. My first teenage party had been pretty fun. Just observing it had worn me out. Zoey had found Mike's shirt, all torn up. Now she was knitting it back together. I had tried to talk to her about Mike, I told her that when his shirt was off, it was an acting trigger that made him go into character, that he really wouldn't flirt with Anne Maria if he could help it, but she just smiled and shook her head and said she didn't want to talk about that, she said that she'd give him some space until he figured out what he wanted and what he was about. There really wasn't anything I could do about it. I'd have to find out a way to get the shirt back on him. I yawned.  
>Tomorrow, I'd do it tomorrow. I pulled my hoodie over my head, curled up in my cart, and fell asleep.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>ZOEY<strong>

It wasn't Mike's fault, Brick was right. The Mike I knew wouldn't do anything to hurt my feelings, something must have really been up with him. So I thought I'd give him some space. On my way back to the cave as I stitched his shirt back up I realized- if there's anybody I should be mad at, it's Anne Maria.

_She_ was probably the one who'd ripped off his shirt, _she _was the one who kept putting her hands on him. _She_ was the one who made him hurt me like that-

_every single time_ that he'd hurt me- it had been her. When I stepped into the cave, I was faced with the sight of them, making out in the middle of the cave, she was cupping his face and he had his hand on her waist. I was suddenly dizzy, I wondered if it was the dust that Cameron and I had stirred up when we opened that old crate. Dizzy, so dizzy...I could see lots of things, tiny spots of light, I could hear things, Cameron telling me to look out. I tripped on a stone and fell to the ground, I felt a scrape open up a cut on my leg and my vision blurred with tears. I could see a line of bright read across my shin. The colour hurt my eyes, more lights and then. I saw it. About a foot away from Anne Maria's platform heels: my yellow-flower plant had been trampled, the flower that Mike had given me was as good as dead. I was so dizzy and my head was heavy and I closed my eyes and gave up. It was Cameron's voice that woke me up, he helped me up before he crawled into a cart to rest.

Everyone else was asleep. I watched Vito lead Anne Maria to a crate and smooth out the newspaper on top of it, that made her smile. She lay down and he walked away, then he came back quickly and gave her a kiss on the forehead. She put her hand on his shoulder and pulled him into a kiss on the lips which he returned with an appreciative moan. They pulled apart and he was grinning at her.  
>Then he went over to a cart there was a muffled "Ow!" from underneath it as he jumped into it.<p>

For a while I just lay there, feeling the pain shoot though my leg as it went on bleeding. The blood was warm as it trickled onto the dirty cave floor. I didn't bother to wipe it. It was the only warmth I had I looked up at the tiny patch of sky left on the cave ceiling. The patch of sky that this time last night had seemed to open up onto endless space, but that now was grey and full of emptiness. Snowflakes came down and some of them clung to my eyelashes. I didn't bother to brush them away. I was just going to lay here and let the numbness flow over me like the cold night air.  
>Anne Maria's snoring told me that everyone else was finally asleep. I was completely alone. Before I shut my eyes I saw my plant, even with its stem all limp and bent, even missing a petal, there was an unearthly beauty that it had in the dim light. I felt myself get up. I felt my hands close around Anne Maria's hair dryer.<br>Nobody deserved to feel as cold as I did tonight. I sat up for a while, aiming the warmth of the dryer at my plant. I think it must have helped, because it seemed to hold itself a little higher on its thin stem. Had it grown last night? I couldn't tell. I put the hair dryer back next to her. Then I drifted into uneasy sleep.

* * *

><p>So here we are at the end of another chapter of<strong> Total Drama Revenge of the ForeverMine<strong>. I wonder if next time you guys will get out of the mine, my guess is as good as yours.  
>Anne Maria: No it ain't! <em>You<em> wrote it, so get us out of here already.  
>Acelaces: I might write you out of there, if you ask nice.<br>Brick: Permission to suggest you do it soon, as we're almost out of food stocks, Ma'am.  
>Lightning: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! LIGHTNIN'S TOO BEAUTIFUL TO DIE!<br>*Lightning falls to his knees and pounds the floor with his fists*  
>Jo: Cheer up, we can always survive on human flesh, -like the Athenians!<br>Cameron: Actually, Jo, the Athenians didn't eat human flesh-  
>Jo: See, just for that I'll eat you first, Shrimpy. * brandishes a fork and grins*<br>Cameron: Eep! *hides behind Anne Maria*  
>Jo: Ah, I'm just kiddin, 'sides, you're supposed to kill whoever's the largest, that way everyone eats for days.<br>Anne Maria: Rules me out, I'm 4 foot eight.  
>Vito: Ey, don't sell yourself short, babe, youse may be a shorty, but you're my shorty.<br>Anne Maria: Aww... maybe I could be a little taller tho  
>Vito: How come?<br>Anne Maria: So I can do this *kisses Vito* widout goin on tiptoes.-Seriously tho, its bad for da shoes.  
>Scott: I'd eat both of you just so I wouldn't have to see that.<br>Vito: If you're so hungry how about I give you a knuckle sandwhich *clenches fist*  
>Anne Maria: Don't waste your time on him, V, he's just jealous cause you got a perfect tan and he's all...<em>ginger<em>. Is it just me or is he ginerer dan usual?  
>Scott: Guess it's just a trick of the light..<br>Jo: There IS no light in here, we're trapped in this accursed mine! Now let's get down to business, Who are we eating? *looks at Lightning*  
>Lightning: Nuh-uh, Lightnin's flesh is off-limits -even though Lightnin has to admit he does look delicious!<br>Jo: Hmm, but the question is would all the athletics make you tough and gamey?  
>Lightning: Pfft, no girl, feel Lightnin's leg! *sticks leg out and Jo pokes it with fork*<br>Jo: That leg's pretty lean...maybe we should eat the cadet instead-  
>Brick: What?<br>Jo: Though it's definitely going to be a problem killing him now that he knows...  
>Brick: Wait a minute- now that's just a bit-<br>Jo: I think we'd better go with Lightning. *looks at Brick* I think I could keep you around a bit longer.  
>Brick: ..Really?...You mean that?<br>Jo: I don't say anything I don't mean...Now give me another high-five, soldier!  
>Brick: Ma'am...<p> 


	5. What's Yours is Mine

Acelaces: So it's time again for another chapter of Total Drama Revenge of the ForeverMine!

Lightning: Finally! Lightnin was beginning to wonder if it'd be done by Christmas!

Jo: First off, Lunkhead: like you could even read it- second off, not everybody here celebrates Christmas.

Mike: What, you don't?

Jo: Nope. It's just a way for the companies to scam people into buying stuff for other people.

Zoey: But giving a gift is a way to show someone you care about them, and you don't have to buy one- every year I make my mom a macramé pot hanger-

Anne Maria: -Yikes. I hope you don't start carin about me.

Jo: Gift-giving is just what lazy people do to show their pathetic affections. I don't celebrate anything, except maybe V-day.

Anne Maria: You celebrate Valentine's day? With who, your treadmill?

Jo: Ew- not _Valentine's Day_, Victory Day! Twenty-four hours devoted to nothing but the best of the best of the Olympic athletes!

Anne Maria: *cough_onesadbroad_cough*

Jo: I heard that! Any ways, I challenge you to name one holiday that can top V-Day.

Anne Maria: Dat's easy. New Years Eve. There's free drinks, and parties, - everybody's dressed up and all the haters go into hidin.

Jo: Don't forget all the drunken lootings and midnight robberies. Oh yeah, and all the broken promises the weak-minded have to look forward to. What do you have to say to that?

Anne Maria: Don't ask me…

Jo: What about you, Scott?

Anne Maria: -last I checked _you're the expert on gettin wasted._

Jo: What?

Scott: -I dunno, probably the first day of duck hunting season. When D-day comes I can have at it with those lame birds on my terms. For the rest of the year I have to listen to them laugh at me from their stupid nests.

Mike: You sure that sound you're hearing isn't just, you know…quacking?

Scott: That's just what they want you to think.

Brick: Canadian Forces Day does it for me! It's always important to honor that legacy of dedication and hard work. Although it'd be a lot better if people didn't prefer spending the weekend breaking firework safety codes. I mean don't get me wrong, I love a good firework, the smell of the sulphur, the blasting of the gunpowder-

Cameron: -The oxidization of the nitrates

Brick: Uh..

Lightning: The FSShshhhhshhshshsssssKakakaka sound they make! Sha-Boom!

Brick: I guess I don't know why I like them so much

Jo: Sure it's not cause they're such good night lights? Wouldn't want to spend C.F Day hangin your pants out to dry…

Brick: Hey- I don't do that any more!

Jo: -Suprised your favourite isn't _Mommy's Day_

Brick: What's wrong with-

Lightning: Lightnin's Holiday is better than all of y'alls put together. Lightnin'll give you a hint: It begins with Thanks Givin - and ends with Lightnin getting to eat a whole Turducken!

Scott: Please tell me that isn't exactly what it sounds like.

Lightning: A chicken stuffed in a duck all crammed into a Turkey! It's ninety-percent protein and a hundred-percent delicious!

Acelaces: Sounds like it's just plain foul to me.

*collective facepalm*

* * *

><p>MIKE<p>

I don't know how long I had been drifting through the darkness, feeling the familiar numbness there was whenever I went under. I heard the voices of the others, echoing like they were across water, and I became aware of a need to breathe. It meant that none of the others were up there, and I felt myself floating up, to meet the surface.

I gasped. I was awake. I was me again.

What had happened yesterday? I wasn't usually under for so long. I guess Vito had decided to sleep in a cart last night,I thought as I climbed out,

"Hey! Lightnin's tryina get some well deserved R&R!"

-and apparently Lightning had chosen to lie underneath it

I looked around, there was Zoey, asleep in the middle of the cave, near to where our plant was growing.

She was fast asleep, but I could see from here she had a bad cut on her leg, and her eyeliner was smudged, had she been crying? Still, she was so peaceful...and I don't know how long I stood there looking. Even in the dimness of the cave, Zoey looked... beautiful.

I tore my eyes away, somehow I doubted she'd be so calm once she was awake.

I'd really messed up this time- well, Vito had -but if I'd just had the guts to tell her when I had the chance...I wouldn't have to explain myself again...and I wouldn't have made her have to feel like that...

She turned over in her sleep, her back to me now. I figured I might as well go see about what we were all going to eat , it'd give me some time to think about how I was going to tell her, because I was done waititng. I knew if I waited any longer things could only get worse.

* * *

><p>"Last time on Total Drama Revenge of the Forever Mine things were pretty cold for our eight campers" started Chris, grandly indicating the island behind him.<p>

"You mean miners." Corrected Blaineley.

"No- they're camping out in there, aren't they?" said Chris.

"Uh-huh, but they're inside a mine, so-" replied Blaineley.

"Whatever!" snapped Chris, continuing,

"Last time things got pretty cold for our eight losers."

"Nice touch." Commented Blaineley.

"Thanks." Said Chris.

"But after Mike got a attacked by a flock of angry mutant bats, Anne Maria and 'Vito' decided to heat things up, by making a pineapple concotion that was totally spiked." Said Chirs loudly.

"At some point the Jersey boy robbed a certain military meathead of his favourite neckchain," continued Blaineley, " but he was too busy warming up to the jockette to start what would have been-"

"-a pretty awesome rage battle, yeah" finished Chris with a grin, with a a faraway look as if picturing the possibilities for mayhem.

Blaineley picked up where he'd left off, "But things were a little too hot for the lonely, indie mess, Zoey-"

"-Yeah," said Chris, " and you know how they say if you can't stand the heat stay out of the kitchen? She did, like, the exact opposite, and she and Cameron got into some totally rank fungus stuff, which hopefully, will have some interesting effects."

"-Speaking of interesting effects," responded Blaineley,

" the delusional dolt, Lightning made the mistake of mixing high-octane energy drinks and alcohol, and learnt the meaning of pain from Mike's angriest alternate. -And let's not forget the littlest brainiac got stuck in a mineshaft-"

"-And had to be rescued in a last-ditch effort by Lightning, who probably didn't even realize Cameron was on the other end of that bowl of 'steak'" finished Chris.

"At the end of the day the ice seemed to be melting around Jo, who spent her time plotting out her past to Brick instead of plotting for escape- which of course, leaves us with the question…" said Blaineley pausing for dramatic effect.

"Are they ever getting out?" they said at the same time before glancing at eachother as if to say "that was my line!"

"Find out on today's episode of Total-" started Chis before Blaineley could try to steal his favourite bit.

"-Drama-" interjected Blaineley with a grand gesture.

"-Revenge of the ForeverMine!" they each tried to shout before the other, which resulted in an unintelligible sound something like "Rngevthfrminne!"

After introing the show the two began to make their way through the snow back to the refuge of their cabin. Things were unusually silent between the two, neither had forgotten last night's incident.

Chris walked a little way behind Blaineley, who was wearing a tailored red winter coat and black fur boots that matched her earmuffs. He stopped walking.

"Hey!" said Blaineley indignantly after getting hit in the back of the head by a well-aimed snowball.

She turned on her heel to face Chris who was whistling and looking away innocently with his hands behind his back.

"Oh, very funny, McLean." she said, rolling her eyes. When she kept walking through the snow Chris stared at her, bemused ,

"If you think you can get some sort of silly snowball fight out of me, you've been watching too many cartoons." she said, flipping her hair haughtily. She took out her cellphone and said, "I have to take this, go ahead without me."

Chris shrugged and went on, but he'd only gone a few feet before a ball of snow hit him upside the head. He paused, blinking before turning around to see Blaineley smirking at him as she passed, trudging on ahead to the cabin. The side of his face was coated in fine white snow.

"It's not a bad look for you, Chris." she said smugly.

* * *

><p>BRICK<p>

I'd learned alot about her last night.

So she'd had bad experiences with teamwork...and with guys

I tried hard to think about it, I tried to think like Jo...it was pretty difficult. I guess I'd never thought that being part of a team could be such a bad thing, I just thought Jo thought she was better than everybody else, that she didn't need a team. Teammates were supposed to trust you, and they definitely weren't supposed to betray you like that. So maybe Jo thought everyone was that way, that everyone would eventually try to outdo her, by any means neccessary. But people aren't all selfish and calculating...some people cared about her alot.

That Spence guy sounded like a real jerk...it sounded like she really liked him though...I wondered if she still did.

I'd never wanted to punch somebody I'd never met before.

* * *

><p>SCOTT<p>

I left the mine early that morning, unlike the other doofuses who were probably still sleeping off their dumb party, I still had my wits about me. It meant I could get a head start on working my plan.

I'd just gotten into the control room, and pressed a big green button on the computer, the screen turned blue. Now, it was just a matter of figuring out how you were supposed to work these things..

"Ahem." came a voice from behind me, I whipped around.

"Relax, it's just me," said Blainely, she was standing in the doorway with her hand on her hip, "I'm not up for one of your little games of cat and mouse." Walking over to see what I was doing she continued,

"Although I would like to know just what you plan on using Mike's file for."

"Why do you wanna know?"

"Oh come on, kid. It's obvious you're stirring up trouble back in that mine.

I'm keepin em from suspecting anything of me, once they smell a rat that's the end of your show, and then your paycheck's on the line."

"Easy kid, we're on the same team here, remember? It's your paycheck as much as mine. So why not strike me a deal on this?" she asked, although it seemed more like a flat statement.

"What kind of deal?" I asked slowly.

"Your plan involves the scoop on Mike, now Let me guess, you plan on telling him you know and holding it over him?" she said, arching an eyebrow.

Ya of course. Pretty much.

Tsk, oh Scott you need to do you homework. Haven't you looked at any of the tapes?

She pressed a button on the control panel and pointed at a screen ahead of me. Cameron was talking to Mike, and he was telling him to tell Zoey about his condition. I knew I couldn't trust the little runt.

"Mike was going to tell Zoey anyways. All you'll be doing is doing him a favour. Now if I were you, I'd try something a little more...underhanded." suggested Blaineley. She looked at me for a sec and when I didn't say nothing she just kept going.

"Now in my experience there are more…_creative_ ways of ruining someone's reputation, so you can also get them to do whatever you want. " said Blaineley, twisting a finger through a lock of her hair.

"I know what blackmail is." I said, God – did she think I was an idiot?

"It's better than blackmail. You don't have to hold on to such a juicy secret. Give him the possibility of reward...he'll be on your side too. And I think I've got just the thing to help you out." She finished.

"What do you got?" I asked, trying to see if maybe she was holding something behind her back.

"Not so fast." she said, "Don't forget, you've got a part of the deal too."

"Chris, he's up to something..." she said, looking out the window through the blinds where Chris could be seen enjoying his hot tub,

"He has to be...I just don't know what. And I can't go snooping around now..." she trailed off and looked like she was thinking about something for a minute before continuing.

"Anyways. You tell me anything you see Chris up to, he makes a move- I wanna know. Got it?"

I thought about it. It seemed like a solid enough deal...I was already tracking Chris for any signs of what he had planned for me, and she was right...hadn't Chris tried to slip her a potion yesterday? She didn't say anything about telling her what he'd already planned...

I grinned.

"So how do you say we do this?" I asked, "What do you have that I want?"

She smiled and flipped open her phone.

"Connections."

"Morning cavemates, anyone seen Jo?" asked Brick, swinging down the track with his hands above the underground lake.

"I haven't seen her all morning." said Cameron, adjusting his glasses and looking up at Brick.

"No, Brick," replied Zoey from the edge of the water where she sat beside Cameron, "I think she must've gotten up early and went to find Scott."

When Brick nodded, looking distracted, and Zoey added, "What's up? How did things go last night?"

"Uh...We successfully rescued a teammate in the nick of time." responded Brick, still not meeting her eyes.

"Not that, Brick I was there for that, I mean how'd things go with Jo?"

Zoey couldn't help notice that his face was starting to redden as he answered,

"..We talked.."

Zoey took the hint, and guessed that things had gone well but that Brick wasn't so comfortable talking about it to the room at large.

When she noticed Cameron looking up at Brick inquisitively she changed the subject.

"Are the carts still jammed?"

That morning they had discovered the carts had been stuck to the track, and despite Lightning's enthusiastic attempt to push them along, Cameron had urged a stop to their efforts, stating that by his calculations the old tracks would likely fracture along their weakpoints if any more pressure were to be applied. Of course Lightning had said crestfallenly,

"Man, Lightnin don't have any weakpoints! Why you gotta interrupt the Lightnin? Lightnin was on a roll!"

That was when they'd headed down the track on foot, Zoey steadying Cameron whenever his awkward frame lost its balance.

"Yep, they're probably going to be that way for a while." said Brick, looking back at the tunnel while doing pull-ups on the track.

"This is just a hypothesis...but I think it may be due to a combination of factors: the moisture from the rain the other day and the significantly lower temperatures that we've been experiencing since about yesterday afternoon."

"-And dat's about it for the _weather report_." said Anne Maria, struting out of the tunnel on the track, "Mornin uggos, What's for eats?"

"Sha-Protein!" came Lightning's excited voice from the tunnel, he came charging down the track at full speed, stepping on Brick's hands in the process.

"Gah!" shouted Brick, letting go of the track and dropping into the water below.

"Hey, ey! Slow down ya mook!" said Anne Maria in a panicked voice, but Lightning showed no sign of stopping, and Anne Maria was knocked off the track, grabbing onto his ear to try to pull herself up- instead pulling him down with her.

"Not to worry, dudes! Lightnin saved the food!" said Lightning, holding the pot above the water triumphantly with one hand and shovelling a spoonful of breakfast into his mouth with the other.

Anne Maria surfaced, her hair dripping, and her eyes glaring at him with red hot intensity.

* * *

><p>CAMERON<p>

While everyone else watched as Anne Maria chased Lightning around the pool shouting

"I'm gonna shove dat pot right down your throat ya klutz!"

I couldn't help thinking about Brick's conversation. I suppose I'd hoped everyone would forget about my incident yesterday. But not even teenage partying would clear away the memory of my stupid mistake. Why did I always have to be the one that needed saving? Why was I always the little kid? I was old enough, and I didn't have so much experience- but I knew more than anyone of them knew...it just turned out that being trapped in an abandoned mine wasn't exactly the best situation for my skill set. Still, I'd thought if I could just show them I could help them out, make up for trapping them in here in the first place, they'd realize that intelligence could be just as potent as-

"Ow!" said Lightning as one of Anne Maria's shoes hit him from behind. He tripped but expertly caught the pot, tucking it protectively with one arm.

"Chill out, girl! Lightnin wasn't gonna eat it all _himself_!" cried Lightning as he looked up at a scowling Anne Maria who was pounding one fist into her open palm.

"Hey, relax-it's no big deal-" started Brick, causing Anne Maria to turn on him.

"No big deal? Look at dese flyaways" said Anne Maria incredulously indicating her hair, which to the untrained eye was perfectly fine.

"I can't meet Vito lookin like dis- an he's gonna be down here in like a minute!" she said, checking her reflection in the pool and whipping out her spraycan.

Lightning took this moment's grace to get up and back away to the other edge of the lake.

"You're just lucky I got my emergency supplies." she said, shaking the can and pressing the nozzle.

Nothing came out.

"No way..." she said in disbeleif, "dis ain't happenin, dis ain't happenin!"

Everyone looked at her as she frantically shook the product.

"Those jerks at the salon told me it'd last eight days!"

Just then Mike appeared at the top of the track with his arms full of cans, one for each of them.

"Sorry, once Lightning saw what was for breakfast he kind of -took it off my hands." he laughed nervously and walked to where the track met the rockface, making his way down.

"It's TVP... " said Mike in response to their questioning looks, "Textured Vegetable Protein."

He waved and for an instant I thought to raise my arm in reply, before I realized he was aiming his tentative smile at Zoey. He started to walk over here but he passed the rock where I was sitting to sit next to her.

For a moment I hoped he'd remember we'd made plans to talk again about getting his disorder under control, but it seemed like he'd rather be working things out with Zoey.

I hadn't wanted to come to this conclusion but the evidence was proving...insurmountable.

In the darkest hours of the morning I lay half-awake. The cold of the cave had made me pull my hoodie over my head and pad the cart I was curled up in with newspaper. The air chilled at my side and I shivered bitterly. I missed the warm air that surrounded me in my bubble. My bubble that my mom had filled with so many soft warm things. I punished the thought, the only reason I was here was to prove to her-to everyone- that I could make it on my own...that in my own way...I was strong. Just then I made out the soft outline of something, across the cave,it seemed to float down from the skylight.

I put on my glasses and blinked at what I saw.

Dineaus Plexipus! The monarch butterfly had graced our cave with its fluttery perfection! I knew it was the same one I'd seen the day of the cave-in, the very same one I'd seen on my first day on the island. It had a tiny piece missing off the tip of one wing, despite the imperceptible imperfection, it was beautiful.

I stared, transfixed at it as it opened and closed its wings slowly. It seemed to glow in an orange light, even in the gloom of our cave. I felt myself charged with a warmth that washed over me. I wanted to run to it, to cup it in my hand, so carefully, to look at it up close. I sat up, immediately I was filled with a feeling of wooziness. I didn't remember having any of Anne Maria's alcoholic beverage last night... My head felt heavier than ever and my vision blurred out of focus. I fell backwards into my crate. When my sight returned I was looking up at Scott.

"Hey, you okay there, little buddy?" he said, reaching into the cart and pulling me up to a sitting position.

"Oh..hi Scott." I said, adjusting my glasses and scooting around, hoping to shirk his hand off my shoulder. He jumped into the cart and sat right beside me.

"You're up early.." I said.

"Oh, I'm always up early. Ya gotta hit those tunnels before the sun comes up, cause time flies when you're lookin for an escape. But it ain't cause it's fun- it sure tires you out."

"Then how come you're always last to go to sleep?" I said, I didn't know what Scott was leading up to with this, but the last time we'd had a discussion hadn't been exactly consoling.

"Because I'm up...thinkin and stuff- don't tell me you don't know what that's like."

"Well...yes." It was true. Without the nighttime routine of a glass of warm milk, story and antibiotic inhalation therapy I had spent every night with my head full of thoughts instead of dreams. Thoughts about home, thoughts about Mike's problem, which had become my problem, and thoughts about escape. Scott didn't seem like the kind of guy that shared thinking as a pastime. But I guess I was wrong about him.

"Kinda hard to get to sleep anyways, after you've got an earful of the sorta stuff that gets talked about in here." he said, looking around.

My eyes widened. What had he heard? I knew Mike was a somniloquist- a frequent sleep-talker...maybe Scott had caught onto his secret the same way I had... I couldn't let him believe it, I'd made a promise to Mike! I had to convince him that what he saw was the result of alcoholic pineapple juice and an active imagination.

"W-what type of stuff?" I asked cautiously.

"Well sometimes Lightning says stuff like "Pass it to Lightnin!" or "Touchdown!" he did an impression of Lightning's enthusiastic exclamation.

I was glad he wasn't talking about Mike, and I was wondering how much time Scott spent watching Lightning sleep when he went on:

"And sometimes," he dropped his voice lower, "Mike and Zoey have some pretty interesting conversations too..."

"Mike and Zoey? Well, of course...I mean they're friends so-"

"Aw come on buddy, I can tell they're into eachother- I'm not some kind of ignoranis."

Ordinarily I would have let him know the correct word was 'ignoramus' but I was curious...If he wasn't talking about flirting, what kind of conversation was he referring to?

"I'm talking about the stuff they say about you, buddy." he said.

"What do they say?" I found myself asking.

He lowered his voice

"Well just the other night -" he began, "..Nah, you don't wanna know." he shook his head.

I blinked in surprise, why wouldn't I want to know?

"No- I do!" I said, a little too eagerly.

"Well, if you really wanna know..." his eyes shifted to mine and he began, "the other night after Mike finished talking to you he went over to talk to Zoey, she asked him how come he talked to you so often. And he said 'I dunno, The bubble-boy thing, you know? I don't know how he'll make it in here, without his mom and all. I guess I just feel sorry for the kid.' that must've impressed Zoey, cause she was all "awww" and then he kept going, 'It's not like I wouldn't rather be over here talking to you...you're the nicest girl I know' then he jerked his head in your direction and told her "It sure beats babysitting."

I couldn't believe it. I guess I'd always kind of thought...I mean Mike only ever talked to me when he needed help with his problem...or whenever Zoey was too mad at him to communicate...maybe once things went well with her again he wouldn't have any use for me anymore...I wasn't exactly up to the kind of adolescent adventures they could have together...he was my first real friend...my best friend, but maybe I wasn't his...

I always had to remind myself that it wasn't a thought, it was just a feeling. And feelings just couldn't be trusted the way thoughts could. How did I know Scott had really heard anything Mike had said to her?

"He also mentioned you have to take pills every night." he said, then he looked at me with strained concern

"Are you gonna have enough to last you down here?"

I paused. Scott had to be telling the truth, Mike was the only person I'd told about how serious my immunity issues were. And he'd just gone and told Zoey as if it was no big deal. So much for trust.

"I've got nearly a full bottle-" I said, taking it out of my pocket and shaking it, "So I'll be fine for the next thirty days." I said, looking down. Just what I needed, another person was worried about me. Maybe I really was just a little kid in way over his big head.

"Oh, well that's great. I never have to worry about you, buddy. You can always think your way out of any fix you get into." he said, increasing the pressure on my shoulder.

"I can?" I said, looking at him wide-eyed, "-I mean...yeah...I can!"

"See, you and me? We got something the other's don't got. We got smarts. You got book smarts and I got-"

"Street smarts?" I offered in suggestion.

"There ain't any streets back where I come from, nah my smarts are alot more grounded."

"..Dirt smarts?" I ventured.

"Yeah... Like that..." he said, "so neither of us is gonna let the other one get a fool made outta them, right?"

"No...of course not" I replied.

"See? That's what I'm sayin...you don't think Scott's gonna let his best buddy get treated like a naiive little kid, right?"

"You're..right...you're right, Scott!" I said, balling up my fists and returning his intense look.

"Great." said Scott, almost to himself, "I'm gonna go tunnel huntin, buddy- give me a call the next time you wanna talk, we gotta do this more often." and with that he climbed over the side of the cart, slung a broken pickaxe over his shoulder and headed in the direction of the track.

Now that he had moved I saw that Dineaus Plexipus had gone. It had probably flitted out through the tiny hole in the roof of the cave.

The cave was quiet now except for the occasional grumble from Mike in his sleep

"Grr...dang teenagers and their loud partying!"

- no wait, it was Chester..

"Ey! Would you keep it down ya lousy old man- I got a lady ta meet in the mornin."

-definitely Vito

"And then aftervards is time for the practice making the perfect, ya?"

-okay, Svetlana..

"Oi, girly, practice can't save you when yeh lookin ah ten-foot crocodile in the eye, an all yehv got to defend yehself with is a half eaten banana an ah broken slingshot!"

-and Manitoba Smith.

I went over to him and looked into the minecart where his tall frame was bent in sleep.

"you guys...c'mon...I just need a moment to rest...just...need to make things right again...just...need.."

I couldn't help soften at what he was saying. Things had to have been pretty rough for him...he really didn't have control over what the others did to his life. I picked up Mike's stitched-up shirt from where Zoey had left it on a crate, I lifted him up by the shoulders and slipped it over his head. His brow furrowed slightly but he didn't wake up. I hypothesized that he really was trapped somewhere in his deeper subconscious. I carefully guided his arms into the sleeves and let him rest his head again onto the newspaper-padded cart seat.

He smiled slightly and mumbled a bit before saying

"...Zoey.."

-That was definitely Mike. He might not have control over the others, but he knew what he cared about, and it seemed to me it was _all _that he cared about.

I went back to my crate, pulled my hood tight around my head and curled around myself for warmth. I realized that in my tiredness my thoughts began to fade, but the feeling that was stinging in my chest only increased in potency.

I hadn't wanted to believe Scott. But watching Mike now wasn't exactly providing evidence to the contrary.

* * *

><p>MIKE<p>

I made my way over to Zoey and stood next to where she was sitting. I was a bit taken aback when she patted the ground beside her, indicating I was free to sit.

I was a bit unsure as I sat looking at her. She wasn't frowning, or looking like she was sad or anything. She sat with her knees together but she wasn't pulling them to her like she was sad or anything. I could see the red line of the cut on her leg.

I looked up at her and realized she'd been looking at me. I wondered if she was going to say something but she seemed like she was waiting for me to speak.

"Zoey...I'm really, really sorry about yesterday...about whatever happened with Vito."

"It's okay, Mike."

"I mean seriously I know it seems really bad but there's an explanation if you'll let me- wait,what?" I had just realized what she'd said.

"It's fine, Mike." she said. Her tone wasn't bitter or sarcastic or anything...but she wasn't making eye contact either.

"You mean you're ...okay...about it?" I said cautiously.

"Well...I was pretty upset when I saw you and Anne Maria last night..." she said and for a moment I caught a glimmer of sadness in her eyes before she went on

"But then I figured that there's obviously something going on with you that I don't understand."

Did she already know about my MPD? Was she just waiting for me to tell her? Either way, something about her being alright with what happened yesterday gave me a strange...sadness I guess. I wondered if maybe she didn't even like me anymore...maybe she'd just given up. Stupid Mike, too scared to tell her the truth, and the truth too weird for her to be able to take it. There was nothing I could do about being so messed up, but I could stop being such a coward about it.

"You're right, Zoey...there is something I haven't been able to tell you-"

"And I also realized that you just don't trust me enough to tell me."

"What? That's not it at all...of course I trust you. It's just that-"

"You don't have to try to explain it to me, Mike, I know whatever it is must be really hard for you, and I mean it's hard for me to watch...sometimes I feel so...so much about you...I mean you're...you're my friend"

Was she saying what I thought she was saying? Did she feel the same way I did? Hope was fluttering in my chest and I reached for her hand.

She moved it away from mine and tightened it in a small fist, holding it to her heart. I felt all achey when I looked at her,she shut her eyes and went on,

"-but I think we should just stay that way until you work things out."

I'd really done it, I'd really messed things up between us. I couldn't let it end this way.

"No, Zoey! I-"

I was flustered but I didn't feel myself slip even a bit, I was too focused on Zoey.

"Zoey, I like you, I really like you and I don't want to wait anymore to- work things out. I trust you more than anyone...more than anybody else..."

she was looking at me now, it looked like she was searching me with her eyes. I went on,

"...I have something to tell you...something I should have said ages ago, but that...I guess I was too scared to...until now."

I took a deep breath and shut my eyes. I couldn't lose control now, now was my time to take it back.

"Zoey," I started, " I have -"

"Morning, slackers." echoed Jo's voice, she was walking into the cavern from the track above.

* * *

><p>BRICK<p>

Jo was up, where'd she been? She'd come from the track on the other side of the break, so she must've been by the lifts or the lower tunnels. I was glad she was back, I'd missed her this morning, and especially after last night, it felt like I knew why Jo was so...Jo sometimes, but it was fine because she'd gotten past it, since last night I think she really started to value co-operation over competition, and she wasn't mad at me anymore.

She dived into the water swiftly, splashing me with water. I splashed her back.

"Ready for that rematch?" I asked.

She didn't respond, then she rose out of the water slowly. I noticed that her sling was off, but she'd kept the wrist bind. She wasn't looking at me, she was looking at the others.

"Don't touch that switch, Spray Tan." she ordered Anne Maria, who had just sat down and raised her hairdryer to her seemingly solid hair.

"Just a sec," she said indicating her hair, "I gotta take care of the situation up top." again she raised the device, but this time Jo stomped over to her and grabbed it forcefully away.

"Clearly, the only situation you've got up top is a hearing problem- I said not to turn it on!"

"Ey, jeez!" said Anne Maria indignantly, "Somebody woke up on the wrong side of bottle."

But Jo wasn't listening, she was holding the hairdryer upside down and looking at it carefully.

"Gimme one of those nails, Whiny." she held her hand out in Zoey's direction.

"Hey, that isn't-" began Zoey, dropping what she was knitting.

"Now!" shouted Jo, impatiently. Zoey handed her a nine-inch nail, which Jo began to use to unscrew the backing of the device, which she then pried off using her uninjured hand.

Both girls were frowning and Anne Maria looked like she was about to have an excuse to take her shoe off again. I needed to diffuse the tension.

"Jo? What are your plans for that hairdryer?" I said, taking a step towards her.

She whipped around,

"What's it look like I'm doing, Jarhead?" I blinked, a bit taken aback by her use of one of the nicknames we'd agreed not to use again since before our last challenge.

She continued, "I'm taking out these batteries, so we-"

"-can put them into the ePhone and alert to someone that we're alive!" said Cameron, getting up excitedly. "Why didn't I think of that?"

"I don't know, maybe because you were too busy falling into holes in the ground, and wasting the time we could have been spending getting out of here."

Cameron opened his mouth as if to say something but it was Zoey who spoke

"Hey, it wasn't Cameron's fault! Give the little guy a break." at that Cameron seemed even more upset.

"You're right, because if it weren't for Lady Day-Glow and Presto Change-o over there we wouldn't have all lost a day's worth of work!" she'd turned to face Anne Maria and Mike.

"What if we're gonna be stuck in here fuh like, ever? Is it my problem for tryin to make it suck a little less?" she asked,

"we tried to liven things up in here, so what? Everybody needed a break, all this cave drama wears you out."

"You wouldn't even know the meaning of 'worn out,' if it smacked you right on your lazy beach-"

"-but Jo, she has a point, I mean...we might not ever get out.." said Mike. Jo turned on him.

"Not surprising, coming from the guy who ruined our best chance of getting out of here, let go of any ropes lately?"

"Hey, that's not fair, Mike's-" said Zoey

"Ey, don't blame Vito, he-" said Anne Maria, at the same time, they looked at eachother.

"At least Jockstrap pulls his weight," continued Jo,pointing at Lightning, "and Jarhead's always up for a rescue mission."

The emphasis she put on 'rescue' made it sound like a bad thing. Hadn't she given me a high five last night for the same thing?

"The rest of you, what's your excuse?" they looked back at her in varying shades of annoyed, upset and confused.

"It's like I'm the only one in here who doesn't wanna die at 16 in some stupid abandoned mine. Don't you guys even want get out of here? Did you think it was gonna be a cake walk? This isn't my little princess, we're not waiting in here to see if someone else decides to save our sorry behinds, cause what if they don't? If we don't spend every moment we can still breathe fighting our way outta here, we just could fail, and failure doesn't mean getting eliminated, or losing a reward, it means you die."

"Lightnin don't wanna die!" shouted Lightning from across the cave,

"Come on Jo, nobody here wants to die-" I started

"-Oh yeah, of course, the rest of you are satisfied with survival. You're okay with it as long as we get to live another day down here- well I'm not _– I'm_ not gonna lay down and die- seems like _I'm_ the only one trying to get us out of here. Well, me and Scott-"

"Someone say my name?" came his voice from one of the tunnels.

"speak of the devil." said Jo,

"Scott here's been bustin his ass every day trying to get you slackers out of here, while you all sit around wondering why we're still not out yet."

"You got the ePhone?" she called out to him.

"Right here." He said, tossing it over.

She grinned and started prying off the back,

"None of that matters now, once we can send a message out, we'll be out of here." After taking off the back and shaking out the old batteries she jammed the new ones into it. She turned it over and pressed the big green button. We waited a few seconds.

"Is it workin?" asked Anne Maria.

"Does it look like it's working?" snapped Jo. She held up the device so they could all see its screen, it was totally black. There was a collective exhale of hopelessness.

"Thanks to little Miss Bronzer-for-Brains over here, were all _screwed_." said Jo furiously, turning on Anne Maria.

"Ey, why are you pointin fingers at me?" she asked in surprise.

"Because the last time I checked, nobody here uses this thing as much as you." said Jo, narrowing her eyes.

"Hey, I toned it down- it was on the lowest settin!" said Anne Maria defensively.

Jo continued,"If we'd tried this yesterday, it might have worked, and we could be out of here by now!"

Anne Maria looked around as if to say "ain't anybody else gonna back me up on dis?"

None of them met her eyes, you had to admit, it was true.

"You're the reason we got wasted and lost a whole day," said Jo, advancing on Anne Maria and prodding her finger at her accusatorily,

"you're the reason Pointy let go of the rope, hell, you might be the reason we're down here in the first place! If you hadn't pissed off those mutant moles maybe we might not even be here right now."

"You don't seriously believe all dis is my fault, do you?" she said

"Jo, come on, Anne Maria didn't mean to-" I began,

"Oh and here comes Sergeant Seive and his little morality speech. Isn't it a little late to be large and in charge, you know, seeing as you already screwed up once."

Why was she being this way? It was like finishing an obstacle course and ending up back at the start. Didn't she remember anything she'd talked about last night? Or maybe...

Just then the flashlight went out. The cave was pitch black. Jo swore, and everyone was quiet, except there was the sound of heavy breathing from Mike's direction.

* * *

><p>MIKE<p>

The lights went out and I guess I must've panicked, because I felt myself slipping- no way could I let that happen now. I tried breathing deeply but it was still a struggle.

"I think Mike's hyperventilating," said Zoey, "Are you okay?"

I could hardly see but she sounded like she was worried about me. She touched her hand to my face, , all of a sudden I didn't care about the situation. I closed my eyes and let my cheek brush against her some more. I remembered how much I missed that, how much I'd missed Zoey. Just being around her, talking to her, just...Zoey.

"Mike?" she said. I realized I hadn't answered her.

"Oh, uhm I'm fine- I was just..practicing my breathing- you know for...acting."

Just what I needed, more lies. I'd just wanted to tell her, but everyone else was in here too. If we could just have a moment alone...

"What are we going to do now?" came Cameron's voice in the darkness.

"Lightnin can't see!" shouted a while they tried to figure out where his voice was coming from, before realizing he was running wildly back and forth along the length of the cave.

Brick stepped forward.

"I think there was another flashlight back in the stocks room," he said, "permission to retrieve it and-"

"-I'll go get it" interrupted Scott "- I was heading back down to the tunnels anyways-"

"No." said Jo, "I don't need you busting your hump because some people think they can go all willy nilly with our supplies."

"Ey, wait a minute- I didn't use up the flashlight" said Anne Maria

"Same thing." said Jo in her direction, "If you're going to waste energy as well as space, you've got to be prepared to give back."

"You're the one who's going to get our light back." she said with finality.

"And if you get yourself lost, don't bother calling for help. We're not wasting any more time on rescue missions."

You didn't need light to tell that Anne Maria was angry.

"What? You don't think I got what it takes to deliver?" she asked.

"On something besides backtalk? No. If you intend to prove me wrong, you'd better get to it, helmet-head."

"Fine!" she shouted,"I'm outta here." she stormed off.

"-and one more thing" said Jo.

"What? I know what i'm doin, alrite? I don't need your stinkin- Ow!" there was a thud as Anne Maria tripped over the large rock that was near the front of the tunnel opening.

"I was gonna say watch your step but, I see you've got things under control." said Jo. she laughed malevolently and went on,

"Be back here in no more than an hour." and indicated her watch. It was small, but it lighted up when she pressed it-but there wasn't any time on the screen, it just said 1234559.

"Yeah yeah..." said Anne Maria from the inside of the tunnel.

They could hear her mumbling some choice words for Jo until her voice vanished in the distance.

* * *

><p>BRICK<p>

The seven of us stood there in relative silence that was broken only by Lightning's cries of

"Lightnin's drownin!

Who put this lake here?

Somebody's tryina sabotage Lightnin!

Sha-BbllubblBlb"

Jo sighed.

"Jo, I don't think we should be sending Anne Maria off on her own." I said.

"Well I definiteley don't need you to think for me, Brick-for-Brains." replied Jo.

"Hey, that was uncalled for-" I said, angrily, "I'm just suggesting we send someone with her to-"

"Let me guess," inerrupted Jo, "you wanna run off and play hero again?"

She was mocking me!

"Jo,I'm trying to help you!" I said. She was doing it again, she was getting me mad faster than anybody else could.

"Well maybe I don't need your help." she said

"Agh! Why are you being so stubborn?" I said angrily.

"Why are you questioning my command?" she replied,

"What? I'm not-" I started.

"Actually, I'm with Brick on this." said Mike.

I couldn't see but I could tell Jo was shooting him a death glare.

"I mean..." he continued nervously, "yesterday I was in the stock room and I got attacked by these mad bats, I don't really remember but..."

he paused for a moment. How hard was it to remember something that happened yesterday? I guess that was the kind of thing alcohol did to you.

"...I think they were after my blood." finished Mike.

Mike continued to wonder about the bats while I looked around. My eyes were startin to adjust to the darkness, and I looked at Jo. All of the intensity was there, but something was very different...

"or was it my _shirt_..." mumbled Mike.

"How are we supposed to fight off bats?" asked Scott.

"What are you stitching over there?" asked Jo to Zoey

"Um...well I was making a blanket..."

"What the heck is the blanket for?"

There was a shiver from Lightning nearby and the sound of him wringing out his shirt.

"Sha-please, Lightnin hasn't been this cold since he played that big game durin a snowstorm!"

"They made you guys play in the snow?"

"Sha-yeah, some dudes from the other team called Lightnin in the middle of the night! Lightnin's team o jokers negelected to mention they changed the date."

"They changed the date?" asked Jo skeptically.

"That is what Lightnin just said!"

"To the day of a snowstorm." She said flatly.

"Yeah-you got a problem hearing, dude?" he yelled in reply.

"...Nevermind." said Jo, dropping it- but Lightning continued,

"If Lightnin hadn't rushed down to the football pitch he would've missed the chance to lead his team to victory!"

"So the others showed up?" asked Scott, raising an eyebrow.

"Lightnin wishes! Lightnin'd kill to see the looks on their sorry faces after seein the Lightnin score 153 consecutive touchdowns! Lightnin's team didn't even visit Lightnin in the hospital! -Pssh, probably cause those fools were ashamed of wimpin out and missin the match of the century!"

Lightning thrust his arm out in way of fist bump, but there weren't any takers so he tried to play it off as if he was brushing the water out of his hair, which somehow just ended up making him karate-chop himself in the eye.

"Ow!"

Jo rolled her eyes and Scott shook his head.

"Anyways," she said, "I was thinking that looks alot like a net to me." said Jo.

"Yeah, I guess it could be used as one...but are there any...um...fish in this lake?" asked Zoey, uncertainly.

"Well _of course_ there are. It's just _roiling_ with wildlife." said Jo, indicating the glassy surface of the water, adding in a low tone,

"Hah. With that kind of genius we'll be out of here in _no time_."

"Hey, she was just-" began Mike, frowning at Jo.

"Did somebody say **fish**?" shouted Lightning, licking his lips, "or as Lightnin likes to call em, Aquatic Protein Pockets!"

"Oh for the love of-" said Jo in frustration, "if you don't shut your trap I'm gonna shut it for you- permanently."

" Got it, Jockstrap?" she prodded Lightning in the chest.

"Sha-chillax, bro!" said Lightning, turning and heading to the other end of the cave where he sat on a rock.

"I am _not_ a-" she started furiously in reponse to Lightning's most recent mislabelling of her gender. Then she shook her head and got back to business.

"Put up the net to block off the opening of the bat cave. That'll take care of that problem before there's another attack." said Jo, decisively. I had an uncontrollable surge of affection for her, I loved it when she talked strategy. And even though she was being a bit harsh about it, she was doing something to protect the others. Maybe she didn't just want to get out for her...maybe she wanted it for all of us?

She realized I was staring at her,

"What? Aren't you going to offer to go along with Strawberry Wimpshake, you know, in case she wants to fall down a mineshaft?"

She looked at me. It was a challenge. I decided I wouldn't fight it this time. You had to pick your battles with Jo, otherwise you'd be arguing all day. Zoey would probably be fine on her own, those nine-inch iron nails could probably do some damage if there was a problem.

I shook my head.

"No, Ma'am." I said, half-jokingly. Jo looked at me as if she was trying to figure something out, then she turned and said to Zoey,

"You've got about an hour. Get on it."

Zoey looked unsure, but she nodded and picked up her things before heading towards the main tunnel. Mike looked at her and then back at Jo, and hesitated before saying,

"Maybe I should go with her, you know, just to make sure she...she gets there okay..." ventured Mike.

"She'll be fine." Said Jo, with finality. "- 'Sides, you'll be too busy working on our new _plan_…"

"New plan?" he asked, blinking.

"Is there an echo in here?" said Jo impatiently.

"LIGHTNIN IS PRETTY SURE THERE IS!" shouted Lightning from across the cave, the cavern ceiling shook, giving the same reply.

Jo picked up a rock and tossed it with what must have been stunning accuracy as the next sound that reverberated off the walls was

"Sha-ouch!"

* * *

><p>SCOTT<p>

Jo had sent the girls off instead of me, and now she expected us all to do work in this dark hell hole. I had to get out, luckily the lack of light was a good cover for what would have been an excellent escape. If it hadn't been for running into Sparky.

He was blocking the tunnel exit.

"You headin for the tunnels? Sha-finally! Lightnin could use some action!" he said. I couldn't have him trailing me around so close to the exit. He'd already dug up almost all of the caves down there on his quest for gold. It was only a matter of time before he figured it out...

"Lightnin can't believe he never noticed the fish, Ugly Dude!'' he said, looking at the lake.

...then again, he might never figure it out...Still, the less time he spent around the tunnels, the better.

"You know, I used to fish." I said, (it wasn't a complete lie, last time I checked blast fishing still counted as fishing)

"You did?" he asked.

"Sure, I can show you a way where you don't gotta use a net or pole or anythin." I said.

"You can?"

"Uh huh. Just go in there really deep end and put your head under, then stay real still and keep your mouth open, the fish'll swim right in."

"They will? Seems kinda dumb to just swim right into somebody's mouth! Lightnins pretty sure thats suicide!"

"Fish are the Lightning's of the animal world." I said.

_-by which I meant they were complete idiots that couldn't keep their mouths shut and made funny sounds when you hit them with rocks._

"You mean they're fast, strong and good lookin?" he asked.

"Uh...Exactly." I said.

"Really, Ugly Dude, it's flatterin an all but you gotta quit puttin the moves on Lightnin, -it just ain't gonna happen!" he said, shaking his head as he waded into the water.

* * *

><p>MIKE<p>

This would have been the perfect opportunity to talk to Zoey on her own, but now I was stuck here listening to Jo's plan for escape.

"I say we stack up those minecarts in the middle of the cave floor until we can reach the ceiling," said Jo, "after that we can push the stupid tree out of the way and climb out of there."

"I don't know about that, Jo...those carts are jammed to the track pretty good."

"And if we stress them too hard the tracks will most likely fracture-" added Cameron

"And don't we need the start of the track to get into the main tunnel?" I said.

"So what, we won't need any of that once we're out of here." Answered Jo.

"But what if it doesn't work?" said Brick.

"It _better_ work, unless anyone feels like running off to save someone" said Jo pointedly to Brick.

"or _somebody_ would rather taste cheap lipstick than fresh air." She said, looking at me. I looked down.

"Jo, according to my calculations, the carts wouldn't make a tall enough stack to-" started Cameron.

"We'll stack the crates on top of em." She answered flatly.

"But how are you going to stack once the pile gets too high to reach the top of?" asked Cameron.

"Well I don't know, Egghead, maybe you should be the one working out a plan, seeing as you're useless for just about everything else!"

"Hey, nobody's useless! Give the kid a break, he's just trying to help." Said Brick in Cameron's defense, although it only seemed to make him look more upset.

"Oh here comes Private Pity to give us his bleeding-heart manifesto of-" started Jo, rolling her eyes.

"That is not what I am doing, Jo I just-" he said grasping the air, frustrated.

"You don't like my way of getting us out, how about _you_ figure out a way."

I figured this would be another one of Brick and Jo's 5-minute arguments, so I decided to make my escape. Magic had taught me that you could get away with anything once you had an easily-distracted audience.

I took my exit through the tunnel, as quickly as I could without stumbling in the dark.

* * *

><p>CAMERON<p>

I interrupted Jo and Brick's argument to point out that we were the only ones in here. There was no sign of Scott or Lightning or Mike.

Jo was furious.

"He's just like the short one, no, not you, Shrimpy. Both of them are really testing my patience. It's either do or die in this stupid place. And Pointy doesn't seem to give a damn about getting out of here alive. Just wants to spend all day carousing with Helmet Head."

"Actually I think he's going to talk to Zoey-" I said,

"Its the same thing." Snapped Jo, " Doesn't matter, if he wants to go get himself lost he can go ahead."

"You can't just let him-" said Brick angrily, "-he could get hurt!"

"Oh, I _can't_? Since when do I take orders from you?" she asked emphatically.

"Never!" said Brick. Then comprehension dawned on his face. He tied up his boots and turned, heading towards the tunnel.

"Where are you going, Jarhead?" said Jo.

"To find the others." he answered, not turning around, "The last thing we need now the lights are gone is to be separated in here. This place isn't safe."

I stood up and asked, "Can I come?"

"You should stay here, Stringbean. You're not up for this." said Jo, shaking her head and heading for the tunnel after Brick.

"And you _are_?" he asked, turning to look at her.

"Unlike some people I don't like waiting around while other people get work done." she said,

"When are you going to be back?"

"I dunno. Should take about half an hour."

"Can I use your watch?"

"Can I use your glasses?" she asked mockingly, "Sit tight and wait, Stringbean."

* * *

><p>SCOTT<p>

I'd gone back to Chris' place and something caught my eye when I passed the control room in the hall. Chris was looking at the screens and yelling at an intern because the screens were black even though the sound was on. After I told him that the flashlight had gone out he switched the cameras to full night vision. Zoey was sitting on a rock and tying her net to the torch brackets on either side of and stalagmites above and below the opening of a cave. She looked around every few seconds at sounds in the darkness.

Anne Maria was fumbling around in the room with all the crates, groping blindly on the floor, with a furious set to her face.

But the others weren't in the main cavern. They were heading down the main tunnel and going deeper into the mine. This couldn't be good. I couldn't let them get anywhere near the way out. My way out. I told Chris I had a plan to fix this, but it'd take dynamite. Lots and lots of dynamite.

Chef said there was no way was he showing 'that freckled punk' where he'd hid all his dynamite. But Chris had given him a look that must have told him his paycheck was at stake. So he'd opened up a trap door in his room under the place where he kept his boots, where there were enough explosives to make a guy like me grin.

* * *

><p>CAMERON<p>

I'd been alone with my thoughts for a while now. It was really dark, and I could see the reflection of my own eyes in my glasses. I looked scared. How much time had passed? I did some quick calculations. I'd read that you could calculate by dividing the number of thoughts you have between two points in time by the average number of thoughts per minute. By that estimate about twenty minutes had passed. They could still get back here with Mike and everything would be fine, give or take some scolding from Jo. Everybody would be safe.

But even though my mind was assured as it could be, there was still a strange feeling of unease. I knew for sure it wasn't the general dizzy feeling I'd had this morning, because I'd alleviated that with one of my pills. It was more like a tension, like waiting, but not waiting for the others to come back, waiting for some terrible thing that was going to happen.

Maybe this was just psychosomatic? Symptomatic of being in the dark? The thing was, feelings were never sure things. But what if it was an accurate premonition? Maybe Mike was in serious trouble?

I stood up, adjusted my glasses and set off in the direction of the main tunnel. I tripped on something almost immediately.

I sat on the ground for a moment and felt around for my glasses, my hand touched something else.

Scott's broken pickaxe! What an excellent find!

I faced the tunnel ahead, there were small and strange sounds that were magnified and distorted to sound fearsome. The clicking of some sort of beetle, the dripping of water under the ground below. It was pitch black, the darkness almost absorbed me. I considered leaving my glasses behind, in case they came back, but something told me I shouldn't.

I held the pickaxe out in front of me, feeling out the space, it warned me of obstacles, it was as if every rock, crack and weak spot in my way had been illuminated, figuratively speaking- of course.

* * *

><p>BRICK<p>

Me and Jo went onward in the dark for a while. Ever since this challenge had begun the darkness had stopped being my enemy. At first not knowing what was out there made me expect the worst...but now that I'd spent so much time in the darkness, it wasn't so oppressive, it was hardly as terrifying. I guess it was because now I knew what was in here, and even though I didn't feel totally safe, I knew that there wasn't anything waiting in the darkness I couldn't take on with a little thing I called my secret weapon. Still, I kept my wits about me, the ground was uneven and I had to move carefully, but quickly too, because the speed Jo was going at meant she could easily leave me behind.

It had felt good for once to stand up for what I figured was right. Dad would have been proud. I didn't think Jo would come along, but she had...she was acting just as asinine as usual- alright, maybe more asinine than usual. But she'd come along with me...maybe she didn't want me to meet an untimely death in the darkness...that meant that she really did care about me, right? Or maybe it just meant she didn't think I was effective enough to complete this mission on my own.

I heard her ahead of me, she seemed to walk forward confidently, as if the ground was solid concrete. No-It was barely noticeable, but she was testing the ground ahead of her with her leading foot for just a moment before taking each step.

The darkness had become complete inside the tunnel and I broke the silence

"So, what happened to your sling?"

"Took it off." she answered, as if that ended the matter.

"But why? Your wrist needs support in order to get better-" I started.

"It's already better." she said.

Why didn't Jo trust me? Last night she had called us a team, but she could never be part of a team with that attitude. how could she expect people to depend on her when she wouldnt accept anybody's help?

"No it's not- it was in a terrible state the other day, I saw it up close when I binded it, I-"

"What do you want, a medal?" she cut me off sharply, "In case you haven't noticed this isn't your stupid boot camp. Nobody cares what you do if it doesn't get us out of here, just like nobody cares if you break your neck saving somebody else."

"That's not true!" I almost shouted, shaking my head. How could she say nobody cared about anyone else? She couldn't actually believe that.

"Oh yeah?" she said, challengingly, "How's it not true?" She was making me so mad. How could she be so cynical -about everything?

"When you sprained your wrist I-" I started, but I fell silent when I realized the floor was shaking. All of a sudden there was a calamity from above as rocks tumbled down around us. Jo dived out of the way of a large boulder and crashed into me.

Rocks were falling a few feet away and all I could think about was Jo and how she was pressed against me, and how her heart was racing. After a few deafening moments of rockfall we realized that the tunnel before us was now blocked by a wall of rock.

Then we realized we were still holding onto eachother. Jo pushed herself away from me and got up.

"Oh great, now we can't go any farther, because _somebody_ who doesn't know how to keep his voice down." she dusted off her shirt and rolled her eyes "Thanks alot Private Puddle."

"I told you to quit calling me that!" I said angrily.

"I told _you_ not to go running off to try to find them. Funny how well that worked- now they won't even be able to get back on this side." she said, kicking the wall of rock to see if it would give.

"Don't kick it, it could fall on us!" I said

"Don't tell me what to do." She responded.

Why was she acting like this? Did she really think she was better than me? I didn't have a problem taking orders, but I did have a problem with being treated like I was incompetent. I knew my strengths, I could take on almost any challenge. Why did she always have to be #1? Was she just using me as some way of proving something? I wasn't sure. The silence was filled with the sound of Jo trying to lift the rocks to remove the blockade in front of us.

"Are you just gonna stand there or are you gonna help me get rid of all this?" she said roughly, indicating the wall.

I couldn't see her but I could tell she was determined to remove this obstacle. She wasn't going to leave the others stuck on the unexplored side of the mine...even though it might seem like it sometimes, Jo definitely wasn't _heartless_.

I smiled a bit as we picked up a rock and heaved it over to the side.

* * *

><p>SCOTT<p>

The plan had worked perfect. All it had taken was a ring of dynamite around the mine, I had Chef lay it out so when one of em blew it would set of the one next to it. It blew up a big ditch around the mine like a moat, and the whole place shook up real good. There was a deep echo of a crash from the hollow belly of the mine, so I knew those doofuses would probably be too distracted with avoiding cave-ins that they wouldn't go near the deeper tunnels, where the rocks moved a bit when you stepped on them anyways. I headed back to the cabin and I saw that all three of them had checked out before I got back. I guessed that old McLean had OK'd everything on the screens in the control room, and for now they were probably out on the docks meeting the supply boat or something. I pounced onto the couch and grabbed the remote. I liked it when things went my way.

* * *

><p>LIGHTNING<p>

When Lightnin came outta the water, in addition to not havin any aquatic protein pockets in his mouth, he was also in an empty room!

Everybody walked out on Lightnin! Maybe they were goin to find somethin to cook with the fish Lightnin caught- or MAYBE they left Lightnin here to die of hunger!

Lightnin wasn't so sure, but sometimes Lightnin got the feelin those losers _didn't even like_ the Lightnin!...Lightnin thought about it for a second, but coach always says –every time you have a thought, a muscle cell dies! So Lightnin decided to go head down to the tunnels for some action, to go find himself some gold! Ugly Dude was probably already down there, doin all the work himself!

* * *

><p>JO<p>

I'd woken up pretty early this morning, with the worst headache. It felt like my skull was going to split. I decided to get up and walk it off. I headed in the direction Scott usually went, I guess I was hoping to run into him and get the ePhone. I couldn't wait to try the batteries on it. We were finally gonna be outta this hell hole, of course, that had worked out _splendidlly_. I tried to remember what had happened yesterday.

Stringbean didn't even bother trying the batteries thing, and he was supposed to be the smart one, instead he went on some stupid mission and landed himself in a mineshaft. That's why I always say, stick to your strengths, and some people didn't have strength as one of those strengths. The kid could hardly lift a book far less a dumbell. He could have at least helped make contact but he hadn't even delivered on that. And to make things worse Beach Bum had decided to do her hair, at the expense of everyone. One thing I couldn't stand was self-serving saboteurs. Especially of the prissy girly variety. Why the heck did it matter how pretty you were if you couldn't do anything useful? Now we were screwed. At first I'd hoped a trip into the mine and back would snap her out of it, that she'd realize things around here were tough, and you'd have to be willing to do anything for the sake of survival. But now I almost regretted it, now we were losing time having to free up the tunnel so both of them would be on the safe side of the mine. I checked my watch. Time was running out. I kept thinking about what was happening to them and where they were. It was making me nervous...no..no -it wasn't nervousness- it was just impatience. I hated waiting. Especially when we could be making up for lost time.

Lazy had gotten everybody drunk, well not everyone. As I recall, Jarhead didn't have anything to drink, but he didn't even try to rally the others to find a way out. I remembered that I'd spent alot of time with him yesterday. He coerced me into putting on a sling, just to mark my weakness to everybody else. He got me to climb up onto a pillar and sing. I must've made an idiot of myself. I was lucky if the others still had any respect for me. The worst part is that I think he got me to talk to him, about how I lost my team. Talking was something I avoided, it wasted time and energy that could be spent honing my skills. And once you started talking you always ended up saying too much, then other people got ideas about you, like how you were some kind of steroid-enhanced cheating jerk. I wondered what was going through his head now. Then I remembered -I didn't give a soaring shoot about what he thought about me. He could go on thinking whatever he wanted, but I wasn't going to let him turn the others against me. I was going to take back control today.

It was like without my leadership everybody had conspired to drag our chances of escape down to zero. My least favourite number. Zero was without victory, without even a point. It didn't have anything to offer. It was useless, it was weak, it was _nothing_.

* * *

><p>ZOEY<p>

I'd just been finished putting up the net to batproof our side of the cave when there was this really loud crashing sound and everything started shaking. Rocks were falling everywhere from above where the man-made support beams weren't strong enough and I was caught between looking down to avoid the many pitfalls and looking up to avoid getting hit on the head by one of the rocks above. It was terrifying but I shut my eyes and ran into a side tunnel that sloped upwards. This tunnel seemed pretty safe, and I stopped running halfway in. I looked ahead of me, something was standing out amidst the darkness. There were thick spiderwebs strung along the walls and ceiling, and some that stretched across the tunnel entirely. It was strangely luminous, and there were beads of moisture here and there along them, which meant they were fresh, but there was no sign of a spider anywhere. I reached out and touched one. It was surprisingly strong, and surprisingly sticky. I pulled my hand back, but it didn't unstick. After a few moments of struggle I understood that this stuff had to be the job of some kind of strange mutant spider. Suddenly I was scared, what if it showed up? As if in response there was the sound of rapid clicking from the main tunnel. I tried to free my hand to make an escape, but it was no good. The clicking became faster and louder above the sound of the quaking cave walls, it rounded the corner into the tunnel and came towards me.

* * *

><p>After Chris and Chef had headed out in the direction of the docks Blaineley had decided to follow. As Scott wasn't around she didn't want to miss a beat, just in case Chris tried something.<p>

"So where are we going?" she said, popping up behind her co-host.

"Down to the lake." he said. She was irked at his matter-of-fact tone, and how he hadn't even jumped in surprise. Nope, he mereley held onto his mug of non-Chris McLean brand hot chocolate as if he'd expected her to follow him all along.

"Yes, I can see that." she said, still annoyed at being robbed of an opportunity to see hot cocoa splash all over her reluctant roommate.

"Just taking care of our pest problem." said Chris, grinning as he led them to a large rectangular object about the size of five soda machines in one, which was covered with a large white cloth. When the object shook violently Blaineley jumped back, much to Chris' smug satisfaction.

"What in the hell is that?" she said.

In one grand swoop Chris pulled the cloth off, to reveal a large aquatic tank, in which a large shark stood on two bizarre limb-like appendages.

"Blaineley, meet Fang, the terrestrial, two-legged terror that's been huntin down Scott's freckled butt since episode two."

He indicated Fang's excessive set of pointed teeth but that seemed only to enrage the creature, who clearly hated being confined this way.

"Why is it in a cage?" asked Blaineley. Ordinarily this would seem like an absurd question. But for Chris Mclean, the man who dished out pain like escargot at a french restaurant, it seemed suspicious for him to keep something so capable of causing it cooped up.

"After we trapped the losers in the mine, he went straight for the hole in the roof. And as wicked awesome as a landshark death match would've been, it probably wouldn't have lasted for more than one episode." said Chris, looking peeved "-and that includes instant replays. But now the roof is shut and Scott spends more time out of it than in. But once Farmboy steps out of that mine, Fang'll keep him in there for good, and we can shut it behind him, and shut him out of our deal for good."

'Our deal?' thought Blaineley, had Chris finally come to terms with co-hostly cooperation?

"You forgoed brutalness for viability? I gotta hand it to you, Chris, for someone as trigger-happy as you, that must've taken some real forethought."

Chris' eyes widened in surprise. Did she just give him a complement? Chris McLean had been paid in cash, cheques and the occasional shiny object, but he'd never been paid a decent compliment. He had to admit, alot of those anonymous fan messages had been sent by himself. And he'd definiteley never received one from Miss Thing herself. It had to be a stealth insult. For a moment he waited for her to add something, like

_"It's a wonder you didn't hurt yourself."_

or _"Whose brain did you borrow?"_

but she just looked at him in awkward silence that was only broken when Fang charged his full weight against the side of the tank, causing it to crash onto its side. Blaineley grabbed Chris and pushed him in front of her.

"Uh..you _do_ know it's not going to come after us, right?" said Chris indicating Fang, still trapped in the tank, who turned his head left and right as if looking for something.

"Oh," said Blaineley, regaining her composure, "right, well, why doesn't it go after anybody but Freckles?"

"He's got its missing tooth." stated Chris simply.

"Poor sucker doesn't know that though." said Chef, although his grin betrayed that he was far from pitying Scott. He was tying a Scott mask onto an intern who was strapped to a chair, looking with terror at the mutant shark. As Chef began to unlock the tank the intern started shaking his head wildly.

"Hey, it's all for the cause. If Fang has eyes only for you it means it really is after Scott, and you'll be fine once we take off the mask. No worries though because that stuff's grade A shark repellant."

"I thought you just said you _know_ it's only after Scott." Answered Chef.

"_I _know, but _he_ doesn't." said Chris mischievously. Blaineley laughed darkly and watched as Fang locked his sights on the nervous intern, flaring his mutagenic nostrils and taking a step towards him.

"Don't worry," said Chris, "he won't eat you, sharks can't stand turpentine solution, won't go near the stuff."

"Turpentine?" said Chef, raising his eyebrow, "I thought you said Teriyaki sauce!"

Upon hearing this the intern jumped up in terror, nearly tumbling over in the chair, and set off at jerky run towards the woods, hunched over from the chair strapped to his back- with Fang close behind and looking particularly killy.

Meanwhile Chris was in a fit of uproarious laughter,

"Oh that is just _too good_." wiping a tear of mirth from his eye. Just then he smacked his forehead "Aw man, I wish I had this on _camera_!" he groaned, "Chef- why didn't you take-" he stopped when he saw Blaineley. She was holding up her scarlet flip phone, recording the brutal chase scene before them.

Without thinking, a certain host grabbed Blaineley by the shoulders and kissed her full on the lips. She was caught off guard, and after Chris realized what he was doing, he pulled himself quickly away.

Flustered, he pointed his thumb in the direction of the cabins.

"Uh...I'm just gonna go head back now and-"

"Hold up, McLean," said Blaineley, looking distinctly ticked off, "_nobody_ gives Blaineley O'Halloran the kiss and diss." she snapped her finger in the air for emphasis.

"Just what are you trying at, Chris, is this your twisted idea of a date?"

She eyed him crossly with her arms folded.

"Maybe." he said, shrugging and walking off with his hands in his pockets, but he'd only gone a few steps before he turned and said slyly

"That's a good look for you."

Blaineley checked her compact, her lipstick was smudged. She hastened to reapply it, not even batting an eyelid while a certain screaming intern with a chair tied to his back with the mutant shark on his tail ran back and forth in front of her to get her attention.

If this _had_ been a date, and not part of some kind of plot to pick her off, it had been pretty weird. It wasn't exactly discussing a movie deal over expensive champagne, but she had to admit, it wasn't so bad either. Her thoughts were interrupted by a call from a certain man about a certain plan.

* * *

><p>ZOEY<p>

It was too dark to see but I could hear it breathing. Closer and closer it came at full speed, it was coming right at me! Something heavy collided with me and I was pushed into a tangle of web. When it raised up to full height I saw its outline against the web.

It was Anne Maria.

"Wooh, it sure ain't easy runnin in these things." She indicated her platform heels, around which some web was wrapped. She tried to free her foot.

"Ey, what gives?" she said frowning and tugging at it some more.

"It won't come off, it's really sticky." I said, I realized that because of her now it was wrapped around my left elbow and right hand, as well as one of my ankles.

"Why didn't ya tell me not to step on it?" she asked angrily,

"I don't know, you don't seem to care what you step on." I said, bitterly.

"What da heck is that supposed to mean?" she said, as if she didn't know.

"The flower. The one that's under the skylight. You crushed it." I said.

"What? You mean that plant out in the cave?" she gave a dismissive hand wave,

"Dat thing's fine, I saw it dis mornin- it might even be growin." she said, as if that was that. I replied quickly.

"Thats just because I warmed it up last night. If I hadn't taken care of it it" She was trying to peel the web off that had entangled her left foot by scraping it with the heel of her right but she stopped and looked up at me.

"What did you say?" she asked.

"I said if I hadn't-" I started

"You said you warmed it up." she cut me off. "Didya happen to use my hairdryer?"

She was looking at me angrily now, she was acting like my using it more of a big deal of the reason I had to.

"It - Jo said you weren't supposed to use it for your hair anymore." I replied.

"Dats not the point!" she said, throwing up her arms in exhasperation, "I dont use ur mp3 player widout your permission."

"How can you talk about respect for personal property -when you're the one who crushed my plant?"

"I knew it," said Anne Maria, punching her fist into her opened palm. "I told that bossy broad I toned it down. You're the one who used it up." she said pointing at me, then her eyes widened as if she realized something.

"-Ey wait a minute...why didn't you fess up to her? You let me take da fall fuh dat!" she was looking right at me now,

"...I didn't even touch your stinkin plant"

"I know you did." I said. She kept giving me this look- like she was angry- but also confused. I wondered for a moment if she was actually telling the truth.

"I should have. Stupid thing was right in the middle of the dance floor, but its the closest thing to decoration this joint has got," she said, giving up trying to disentangle her foot, "so I left it alone."

So she had wanted to get rid of it, and it just happened to be where she was stomping around with Mike? And after it was smashed she expected me to believe she hadn't done it? She must've thought I was some kind of small-town simpleton.

"Psh-If I remember right, your idea of decoration is a stolen chain hanging from the ceiling."

Anne Maria whipped her head around to face me.

"Listen, Miss Goodie Goodie. Did you see me do it?"

"Well...no"

"It must've been Vito," she said, shaking her head, "don't get me wrong, I dig him- but the guy's got two left feet and he's a few quarters short of a phonecall-"

"Don't blame this on Mike!" I retorted.

"Oh so dats what this is about." she said putting her hand on her hip.

"You're just jealous because Vito's with me...so you try to make me look like some kind of selfish jerk in front of him this mornin."

"Mike isn't with you- you don't even know him!" I found myself getting really mad. I couldn't stop.

"Just like you don't know what its like to walk into a room every day full of people of who hate you. people who hated you without ever talking to you. To feel like something had to be wrong with you, something everybody but you could see, like some big red target sign on your forehead that you couldn't erase no-matter how much you tried!"

I pointed at my head with my left hand before going on,

"but you try anyways- you try and try and try to get people to like you, people who spend half their time making you feel like crap and the other half acting like you don't even exist!" I was breathless now as I faced her, I'd never let out so much anger at once. I realized I was clenching my fists at my sides, how my knuckles had gone white. I felt the rage drain from my and I started to notice how quiet it was in here. I exhaled.

"You've never had to try for anything in your life, all you do is take -and take summore, you've already got nice things, and friends, and …boyfriends and-and you still have to -" the words were getting caught in my throat. I turned away "-to go and take my- "

Anne Maria swung me around by the shoulder and looked me in the eye.

"Listen up- I don't know what your problem with me is, but Vito isn't your boyfriend." she folded her arms.

"Just because you like him doesn't mean you get an all access pass. I'm the one who actually made the move and landed my man. Don't take it out of me if you were too slow." she said haughtily.

"Have you ever shared anything with him -other than spit?" I replied quickly. All they ever did was make out. Mike may have kept his arms around Anne Maria, but I was the one he trusted, right?

"If he was your boyfriend he'd have been talking to you this morning."

For a moment she looked as if I'd hit her. Then she advanced at me, saying,

" Ever heard the expression actions speak louder than words? Which by the way –usually end up bein lies- and guys do that all the time. The only way you can tell their intentions are true is if they follow through. And that's what Vito does." She folded her arms.

" When its right its right. You know it because you can feel it in here."

She pointed vaguely to her chest,

"So don't try to tell me he ain't as crazy about me as I am about him."

For a second she stopped- as if she'd said too much. Then she quickly went on-

"And what makes you think I got everything? You got good grades, right? Your parents brag about you to all their friends, right?" I was going to answer but she wasn't looking at me, she was pacing back and forth in the short distance the web allowed, as she continued her rant.

"I hate dat! Okay, so I dont eat books for breakfast, it aint my fault. It mean, what does it matter how much stuff you can fill your head with when theyre always tellin you _its whats in your heart that matters _blah blah blah, not everybody's got smarts."

Stopping in her tracks, she turned on me and said,

"But you do, you could look almost decent if you just got a tan on you and put on some makeup, but no- you'd rather wear that old fashioned stuff and listen to songs nobody ain't ever heard of just so you can make sure nobody sets foot near you. Then you wonder why you don't got any friends."

"I dont _try_ to not make friends!" I said in my own defense, "No-one even tries to get to know me- I mean, you weren't exactly nice to me- even from the start."

"What?" she looked at me ludicrously,

"Are you for reals? You're the one who hated me, you said I looked like a clown -and you dissed my tan! Did you really think I was gonna take dat."

I was about to object before I remembered. I guess I hadn't exactly been open at first- but it was just because…

Why was I so mad at her? The only thing that I could think about was how Mike had kissed her, and how bad it felt. I shook my head – I wasn't going there, thinking about Mike was only making me feel worse.

"I dunno- you just came off as one of those really mean, really superficial girls, like the ones at my school who are always showing off, and putting other people down just for fun."

"You never even talked to me! It sounds to me like you're the one who's superfacial." She said, folding her arms.

How long were we going to be in here?

* * *

><p>BRICK<p>

We'd been at it for a while, working in silence. In the darkness. I couldn't see Jo, but I could tell she was too focused on shifting the heavy rock to tolerate distraction. Even though I wanted to talk to her, and make things okay between us again. The feeling of uneasiness sharpened when we heard a crashing sound from somewhere nearby inside the mine.

"It's probably just summore rockfall. " said Jo, when I turned around. She didn't look away from the task at hand for one second. Her calm had an effect on me and I was ready to get back to it until there was another sound. A strange strangled trumpet-like sound that set us both on edge.

"That was definitely not a rock." I said.

For a moment we stood there together facing the darkness- there was a pause in which we heard nothing- then in the opening of the adjoining tunnel further down appeared a frightening glowing object. No, it was moving – it was alive, and now it began to draw nearer I could see the light was coming from the glowing eyes of some kind of creature- it was floating- no- it was flying- was it some kind of…giant moth? It occurred to me that it didn't matter what it was- because it had set those glowing eyes on us- and now it was headed this way!

"Hang on, you judged me too- you called me a hipster!"

"Eh." she said, checking her nails (I guess being trapped in a tunnel at the bottom of an abandoned mine was _boring _her)

"You knit, you do all o that DIY crap -you dress in loads of old people gear-"

"-its vintage!" I said,

"Same diff." she answered with a shrug before adding, "-and you pay through the nose just so you can wear somethin nobody else got, to prove you're better than the rest of us." then in a lower tone she added, "there ain't anythin wrong with leopard-print halter tops, ya know."

"Actually," I said, "My family isn't really that well-off..." I said, looking at the ground.

"Oh." said Anne Maria.

"…So when I was a kid my mom would always take me out to the thrift shop to get clothes. They weren't exactly 'in', and the other kids picked on me alot because of them. And one time mom saw me crying - she said ''theres nothing wrong with these.'' She picked me up and told me- ''sometimes people don't understand things that are different from what they're used to, but that's just what makes them special."

Anne Maria paused before saying.

"Alright, fine. So maybe I read ya wrong there." I looked at her.

"My sayin's more like: you gotta put something on anyways so ya might as well make it somethin hot. No reason to scare people off right from the get-go." She shrugged.

"-But you just said that it's whats inside that counts, it shouldn't matter-"

"-It shouldn't," she interrupted, "but dat don't mean people don't look anyways. An it aint all about how you dress, its underneath dat"

"you mean your spirit?" I suggested.

"nope- your tan." she said. closing her eyes and nodding. Earlier I would have expected it, but the way things were going..I thought she was going to say something more.

Then she rolled her eyes.

"Pfft- I'm just yankin your chain. Nah- it's about confidence." she said, " The world ain't pretty if you ain't. People can even get pretty ugly about your looks, but you gotta work what you've got, even if you fall a bit short."

She glanced at her high heels but when she saw me looking she averted her eyes.

"So even when those hipsters have taken an extra shot of _haterade_- and they diss the tan or the pouf or whateva -yeah it might get you down, but sometimes you gotta be your own biggest fan. When the guys hear confidence, they see it too. An it's one hell of a turn-on."

I didn't know what to say to that, I shuffled my feet nervously.

"You wouldn't believe how much it gets on my nerves to see girls like you bein all coy and shy. Don't your gal pals ever clue you in about that stuff?"

"Well, see- I never had that...I mean the girlfriends thing...there was one time the girls in my class invited me to a sleepover -but they sent me the address of the old folks home instead."

"Ooh, dat's harsh." said Anne Maria. I went on,

"That's not all-they booked me to entertain, I must've spent the whole night trying to juggle in front of a bunch of cranky seniors. I've still got a scar from when one of them threw their dentures at me."

At this there was a snort of laughter from Anne Maria.

"Hey- that's not funny!" I said. "I had to get stitches!"

"I don't see any scar-" she said, looking me over, "where is it?"

"It's not anywhere you can see." I said. Which only made her burst into cackling laughter. I couldn't stop myself from smiling when I realized what she thought I meant.

"No-I mean it's on my forehead- you can't see it cause of the bangs."

She looked closely before saying, "Oh."

The tunnel was silent for a moment before she continued.

"You should see the way me and the girlfriends party. Last time we dyed Maretta's hair platinum blonde with brown highlights- ha! She was so pissed she tossed the bottle at us."

"I'm not so into the chemical product thing...I mean...doesn't it seem fake?" I ventured.

"You mean you're tellin me your hair is naturally the colour of a stoplight?" she said, arching an eyebrow.

"What, oh no, I tinted it in one of the booths at the AprilMay Indie Rock 's henna!"

"Neva heard of it." she said, "Sounds cheap."

"Well it's not expensive...I mean...its this East-Indian herbal dye that-"

"I knew you were a brunette!"

"No, actually I- wait, what? How'd you figure that?"

"Couldn't be a blonde," she said, looking at her nails, "they have wayy more fun than you."

I opened my mouth to speak but then she added,

"And red-heads ain't so damn shy.."

"Well my hair is pretty much like this actually..."

When she continued to eye me skeptically I added,

"-except not so dark red."

" how come you dyed it in the first place?"

"I dunno. Haven't you ever just wanted to do something that stuck out a bit? Something unexpected and maybe a little out there- even if people look at you funny for it?"

She looked at me curiously for a moment before shaking her head.

"None o dat hippie stuff fuh me. I'll stick to my 'chemical product' fuh now. Although I don't know how I'm gonna maintain body and shine now I lost my spray." she looked doubtfully at the tunnel cave-in, as if wishing a can of hairspray would materialize in the midst of our dark tunnel.

"Why don't you just put your hair up?" I suggested.

She looked at me like I'd just suggested she cartwheel into a pit of starving monkeys.

"Woah- I havent worn it up in ages, I used to -cause you know- ya gotta keep the wind outta your face," she explained, "but now I just keep my face outta the wind (and remember to reapply every fifteen minutes)"

She looked doubtfully at some stray ends and went on,

"How come _you_ wear your hair in pigtails even when you've got such a short chop job?"

She looked disdainfully at my hair scrunchies.

"It just gets all distracting-" I said, half-aware that I was playing with it nervously,

"I mean it whips around when I ride my bike through the park. And I go for rides almost every day- we have alot of old trees, and sometimes I pass by Twinning's Bookshoppe or Wool Barn, so then I can just sit on one of the benches, and read, or knit- and watch the kids playing around in the grass."

I remembered how I could forget what I was doing on those days and just end up watching and smiling to myself. I loved kids. I even considered becoming a teacher someday. Something about them...how they were always so sweet, and they looked up at you and asked you questions, and they were all impressed if you knew the answers. Of course, when I was a kid they were definitely anything but sweet.

* * *

><p>ANNE MARIA<p>

"Geez, you really live in the middle of grass-patch-nowhere, huh?" I said.

No wonder the poor broad didn't have much of a social life. What was there to do out of the city?

"Aint there anything better to do than ride around parks all day?"

"Well...I wouldn't call it boring but- I mean what do you do for fun back home?"

"Loads of stuff, -deres the beach, paintball, Point Central Mall, tons of salons, nightclub joints and next to the shore there's this carnival."

"You mean like an amusement park?" she said as she shot up, "Lucky! I love amusement parks- they're so fun!"

"Yeah, tons of fun-" I said, "if you find watchin little kids puke on the tilt-a-whirl amusin."

"Is there a ferris wheel?" she asked, lookin all interested.

"Oh yeah. A big one." I said.

She leaned back and closed her eyes.

"I always wanted to go to a fair, there was one in my town once. It was so great, with all the lights and music and- and everything. I waited for them to set up in the park every summer since... but it never came back..."

"Meh." I said, trying to check my nails even though the light wasn't so good, "You can take mine."

"Huh?" she said, looking at me like I'd said somethin weird.

"You mean you really don't like it?"

"I dunno, if you'd gone on the same ride about a billion times, would you?"

She didn't look like she could imagine getting bored of 'the fair'

"Nah, me and the girlfriends usually go to the tan hut then hit the salon and the mall and then the clubs. Then in the mornin we do the same thing again."

"Oh." she said, "that sounds..." she trailed off and looked down for a while before asking,

"How come you don't get tired of doing _that_ all the time?"

"Of course -we used to do tons of other stuff, sometimes there was indoor paintball, or we'd just hang out on the beach all day and then go for pizza and a movie, bein with them...it was great, but then everybody started changin and then it was like the only thing we were supposed to do was try to hook up or get wasted...and we stopped hangin out as a group and the guys would go off and work out or play v-ball and us girls would try to get pretty so we could impress eachother-

I mean don't get me wrong, hangin out is fun an all but sometimes its hard because its like we've gotten so stuck in this -this..."

I tried to figure out how to say it. How we all liked bein together, and now we'd started actin like this,and we all started doin things in this one way all the time- it was cool and all, cause were always together on things- but you start to feel like you don't wanna be the one to mess with that- to bring somethin new...something outside of everything we're about. Because then you just might end up outside too. Zoey was lookin at me and I could kinda tell she got what I meant, or at least she was tryin to, even tho she didn't know what it was like.

I went on,

"...so theres stuff we just dont talk about...ya know

I mean I love my girlfriends anyways, we always got eachothers backs-" I started to really feel how much I missed em. Kickin back on sickdays, causin mayhem on club nights. Talkin about the stuff the 'rents didn't wanna hear about, and them not carin how bad you failed last week's Math test, and always wantin your opinion on stuff. Like whether to go with hot pink or orange cuban heels (neither, platforms are where it's at if you ask me.) Always askin- like you knew, like you were some kinda genius.

"You could have that, ya know." I told her, "You could make tons of friends- easy."

She looked at me with this big smile. Geez- it wasn't like I said she could be Ms. Universe or somethin. She looked kinda nice when she smiled. Not too bad for a scrawny pasty chick who looked like the 60s exploded all over her. She had nice eyes, I guess. And her nose was alright. And personality-wise, she was almost sweet enough to make you wanna strangle her.

"yeah, you could-you just have to-"

She frowned and pushed herself up to stand.

"-im just so- so tired of people telling me I could have friends _if,_ why can't they just like me the way I am? It's so-"

"They're jealous. Simple as dat." I said, shrugging.

"Jealous?" she asked, kinda tiltin her head. She looked like she had never put the words 'jealous' and 'of me' in a sentence before.

"Come on. " I said, I was gonna have to explain dis.

"You're the one who stays true to who you is-I mean are- makes em feel like a bunch of fakers, cause they never get to do that themselves,- too scared, see?"

She nodded slowly, but she still looked like someone had hit her upside the head with a bowling ball.

It drives em nuts. So they make you feel rotten bout it instead, cause they hope you'll quit standin out and just become part of the background noise."

* * *

><p>ZOEY<p>

I looked at her, wide-eyed.

"Wow..you- think so?" I asked.

"Sure." She said. "I used to be like that. I did whatever I wanted, whatever felt right. And I'd tell myself I didn't care what nobody thought."

"But bein laughed at don't feel too good, and bein looked at funny by your friends is even worse."

"It hurts bad."

"So I quit fightin it. I figured, why make things harder? Easier to just go with the flow, ya know?"

"I -don't think I could do that." I said, looking away.

"Yea, I get it. You're a fighter. Even though you act so annoyingly nicey-nicey goodie-goodie about it, it takes somebody tough to take the haters head-on."

* * *

><p>ANNE MARIA<p>

She started lookin at me all misty eyed.

"You really mean that?" she asked. I rolled my eyes.

"Yea yea dont rub it in."

"Hey…what are you doing?" I asked her. She was on her hands and knees reaching across the floor, pullin against the web stuff that was around her ankles. "this ain't one o your hipster yoga sessions."

"It's indie! I mean- I'm trying to get those-" she pointed at her knittin needles, well if you could call them that, they looked more like hardwear.

"Uh-This ain't exactly the best time for makin a sweater." I said.

"No, no-just, I've got a plan." She kept trying to get her hands on them but she was obviously not getting anywhere so I punched the end of the floor-plank it was on. The other end shot up and the nails flew over in her direction. She caught em.

"Great!" She said.

"Piece of cake." I said, smiling to myself. She started usin the pointy end of the nail on the web around her, trying to get under it. After that she did some tricky loopy stuff with the head of the nail, the tell the truth I had no idea what the chick was doin. It took about a minute and I was gonna ask if there was a point to any of this but I heard her go "Yes!" so she must've gotten somewhere. She started winding the web around the needle, while using the other one to do something else. But bit by bit you could see the tangled mess of it that was around her wrist go away. She was lookin pretty focused, but watchin somebody else knit wasn't exactly my idea of a good time, so I took out my compact and checked my makeup. Things were all good. It was really quiet now the rocks had stopped fallin outside. She spoke again.

"I'm nowhere near as tough as you though..." she said, not stopping what she was doing

"I mean...where'd you learn to punch like that?"

"Babysitting." I said with a shrug.

She looked at me like she was in shock.

"Kidding! Jeez. Nah. I wouldn't hit the little punk, even if he has it comin sometimes…"

I thought about it for a sec before goin on,

" I used to wanna try v-ball but- let's just say that ain't happenin any time soon." She kept lookin at me expectingly. I added,

"Can't be good for the hair." I said, pointin at the pouf. She didn't quit starin at me, like she thought there had to be something else. I breathed out, real slow-like.

"…And I guess the gang wouldn't be too down for me doin somethin like that...looks like fun tho."

She kinda smiled and said,

"Can I tell you something?"

"No- but you're probably gonna say it anyways." I said, rolling my eyes.

"I think they'd think it was pretty cool." She said.

I didn't say anything and she went on.

"You'd probably be really good."

"O'course." I answered. But then she didn't say anything. She just dropped her shoulders and went on looking at me, it was drivin me up the wall. Before I could stop myself I said,

"Look- even if for some reason they were on board with it, if I sucked they'd probably act like I was good anyways –it's like an unspoken rule, like if your girlfriend asks you if her sequin tubetop makes her look fat- you gotta say no."

She finally looked away, like she was considerin all o dis new information. I guess nobody had taught her the rules.

"Sometimes I wish they'd let me know what they really think though...they said I was great at singin, but I did that on karaoke night and didn't exactly get a standin ovation."

I remembered how they helped me fix my makeup afterwards in the ladies room of the joint. They told me the crowd was just a bunch of haters. I wondered if they were just pretendin. We were all good at pretending, we had a lot of practice. Like when we pretended not to care when we flunked out of classes, or like we pretended we'd never want to date a guy who didn't have a nice set of wheels. Like when they pretended that my mascara was smudged cause of the fog machines at the club.

"Pssh. Haters."

* * *

><p>JO<p>

I was backed up against a barely moveable rockpile. In front of me was some kind of mutant moth with a wingspan of roughly eight feet. I sized it up as a pretty dangerous oponent, but I saw that its body was weak where the segments were joined. My first thought was to toss a rock at it, which I did, I lifted a reasonably heavy one and launched it underhand, of course it wasn't easy on my wrist but it knocked the thing back for long enough for me to grab Brickhouse and get outta there.

* * *

><p>BRICK<p>

At 12 o'clock our line of escape was being obstructed by the moth creature. At 6 o' clock our second line of escape was impenetrable as well. My first thought: the priority was to get past it- and fast- it seemed to have huge pointed fangs and spikes that seemed to protrude along the length of its body. My second thought : we had to weaken it – I looked around for a rock to heave at it- but Jo had already picked one up. It was a direct hit! Then she grabbed my hand and my third thought drifted away with other thoughts –about the softness of her palm- the same hand that I got to kiss yesterday- the firmness of her grip- a sign that she was concerned for my safety? The sureness of her direction as she pulled me down the tunnel passage in the dark. I'd follow her anywhere.

* * *

><p>JO<p>

I was leading the cadet back down the tunnel- where at least we wouldn't be confined with the thing, when I noticed two things. One was that Brickhouse was still holding my hand- or I was holding his or- whatever. I dropped it. The other thing was that we'd just passed the tunnel entrance to the bat cave.

"When I say duck, duck, got it?" I said, stopping abruptly. He stopped too, and even though he didn't know what I had planned he nodded decisively.

"Affirmative."

The beast was zooming towards us, its eyes glowing venomously, its bright red wings spread wide as it was upon us. It was going to charge. He looked around at me, but I didn't take my eyes off the mutant moth.

"Duck!" I shouted. We both dropped as it hurtled towards us. It missed and wound up shooting into the bat net, which tangled around it as it crashed to the floor in the cave behind. We both stepped into the doorway, where we could see it, it was thrashing and hissing, but it wouldn't be getting out of there anytime soon.

"How did you-" started the cadet, but I answered before he could finish.

"Beause," I said, "What better to catch a butterfy with-"

HISSSSSSSSS!

"-than a butterfly net."

* * *

><p>SCOTT<p>

After about an hour and a half of the Monstertruck Monday Marathon I figured I should probably head back to the ol'mine. The dust had probably already settled and I didn't want the others to get to thinkin' where I was. I got off the couch and headed out.

When had it stopped snowing? I squinted up at the sky, it was blistering hot and the ice was starting to melt everywhere. Interns were shoveling the sludge from the path around the cabin. All the interns except for this one guy who was running like crazy through the woods in my direction. He was screaming in terror, but he had this stupid smile on his face- wait a second, was that-…._my_ face?

"What the-" I said, before I realized what was chasing him. It was that psycho shark and boy did it look pissed. The intern stopped in front of me and whipped around, mumbling in fear. Fang stopped in his tracks and moved in on the intern, before noticing me. He stopped, and looked from me to him, all confused. I didn't need to wait to find out how many shark bites could kill a guy, so I ran off. Fang shook his head and growled before darting after us. The intern guy was strapped to a chair, and he was panting like he'd been running all day. Every now and then he would falter and clutch his side, and Fang would move in almost close enough to snatch the skin of the back of his neck. He kept grabbing my shoulder, and trying to get me to help him out. It was slowing me down. I needed to shake this guy off or I'd be sharkfood. Suddenly I caught sight of the cabin. I could see from here they'd come back home and locked the doors behind em. I could pick my way in but I didn't exactly have a lot of time on my hands. I had to think quick. – Bingo!

I made a sharp turn and dived into the crawl space under the cabin. It took the intern a second to realize I wasn't headed for the cabin, and that second cost him. Fang caught up with him and took one wild bite, before realizing all he'd manage to chomp off was the legs of the wooden chair. Dumb shark, I thought. The intern took off towards the woods, with Fang hot on his heels. It made me glad to wath him shrink and then disappear into the forest. I grinned, that was before I realized I'd landed in the middle of nest of angry red ants.

* * *

><p>"Jeez! Ouch! Ack!" Scott exclaimed, frantically scratching himself, trying to rub the red ants off his neck. He started to crawl out from under the cabin before he saw the legs of Chef and Chris as they stepped outside, facing the woods.<p>

"Man, look at him go- can't wait to see the kid try to deal with that. Just plain genius."

"I know! And who was the one who came up with that genius idea?"

"Yeah, yeah, you don't gotta brag, McLean."

"Hey- McLean- how come crazy shark only goes after the kid?"

"It's simple, my dear Chef-" said Chris, putting one hand on Chef's shoulder, causing Chef to look at him with annoyance.

"-it's cause he's got red hair."

"I don't get it." Deadpanned Chef.

"Ever seen a matador take on one of those wicked angry bulls?"

"Yeah.." said Chef, raising an eyebrow.

"And _what's_ the colour of the flag they wave around right before the totally ticked-off animal goes right at 'em?" said Chris, holding out his hands as if explaining something painfully obvious.

"Yeah- but I still don't get-" said Chef skeptically.

"Works for bulls," said Chris, shrugging, "why not for bullsharks?"

So that was their game. Thought Scott, who had been struggling to stop himself cursing out at the multitude of biting ants that were now crawling up his leg, so that he could listen to their seedy conversation without giving away his new least favourite hiding place.

When he finally rolled across the under-cabin crawl-space to the opposite end, and emerged, he had already hatched a plan to get him back to the mine in one piece. After he headed inside he didn't notice that Chef had bent to check under the cabin before saying "He split."

Chris grinned mischievously saying, " Aw man- he totally bought it." He burst into a fit of puerile laughter, that was soon joined by Chef's low malevolent chuckle.

* * *

><p>LIGHTNING<p>

When Lightnin got down to the tunnels he didn't see Ugly Dude anywhere! Where was everybody? Lightnin felt the same way he did durin the game of the century- except it wasn't icy cold like it was when Lightnin fell in the snow- right before everything went dark, and Lightnin heard the voice of Jesus! Or was it _Jesús_? Whatever- that's just the old guy who takes care of the football pitch- he dragged Lightnin to the hospital in his truck- and Lightnin wasn't even done playin yet! He kept goin on about how Lightnin coulda died blah blah blah amputation blah blah- all Lightnin remembered thinkin was shut up dude, Lightnin's tryin to watch the Bolts game on this lame hospital TV screen! As if Lightnin could die anyways. Coach said himself that Lightnin was invincible- he'd kill Lightnin if Lightnin died on him before the end of the season.

Even Lightnin's Dad told him he didn't have nothing to be afraid of- back in the day when Lightnin used to wimp out about monsters in his closet- and he used to go runnin to him all, 'Daddy they gonna eat Lightnin!'- man Lightnin was a loser when he was little.

''Don't be no cryin fool - aint no monster gonna mess with Lightnin- you take em on- and once you're big and strong like yo daddy those monsters are gonna run for their mamas.''

Lightnin was always on his toes from then on- he kept waitin to take those losers on but they never showed up. Probably scared of GETTING STRUCK BY THE LIGHTNIN! Sh-Annihilation!

Now that Lightnin thought about it the tunnels weren't cold at all- Lightnin must've been pumped! Lightnin grabbed his axe and got to work- but that was before something shiny caught Lightnin's eye.

There was light comin from the end of one o the tunnels!

* * *

><p>After Zoey had got herself untangled she took the stuff off me too. It didn't take as long for me cause I just had some on my foot. She was kinda upset though cause now the web was stuck on her needles.<p>

"We gotta get outta here, I can feel my tan fading." I said. This hole in the ground wasn't exactly the best place for bronzing.

"Maybe we should call for help?" she asked. She was pacing again, this time in front of the pile o rocks that were blocking the exit.

"And give blondie a reason to chew us out some more about how lazy we are? Are you kiddin me?"

"Yeah...she's really intense lately...and she keeps yelling at Mike."

"Tell me about it...the poor guy didn't even mean to let go of the rope, it's not his fault he was a little distracted by the hotness." I put my hands on my hips and patted my hair. My girlfriends would have said something like "you know it, gurl!" but Zoey didn't say anything. It made me feel weird- it was like she knew there had to be more on my mind, and she just wanted me to say it. I spoke,

"I wish I'd had a chance to hang out with him today...everything was goin so good yesterday...I don't know whats happenin…"

"I know what you're thinkin, how we didn't even talk- but it aint just about talk. I mean when you really get to know a person...all you need to know is that they're into you."

I looked down at my nails. The polish was chippin off. I hoped Vito hadn't seen em like that the other day.

"But what about intellectual stimulation?" asked Zoey. I frowned at her,

"Ey- we havent done any o dat yet!"

"What? No! No- I mean...what about the things they're interested in...like Mike likes doing magic tricks and skipping stones by the lake and reading comic books and watching action flicks-"

"-That stuff aint important." I cut her off. And when she still had doubt on her face I looked her in the eye.

"Youre tellin me that when youre sittin next to him holdin his hand or whateva, you want him to be thinkin about magic tricks?"

"-Well..no..." she said fidgeting with the bangles on her wrists.

"Then what do you want him to think about?" I asked.

She didn't say anything, and she was lookin away but she was blushin.

"Well, there you go. Love aint a think things through kinda thing. Its more like about wantin somethin, and then just goin for it. When you get it- well..the feelin is like...kinda hard to explain…"

I thought about it for a sec, I thought of sayin how it made you like you were the hottest chick alive. Like a million bucks. Top of the world.

"I guess it's like something that's just between you an them- that nobody can mess with. "

"Like a secret?" she offered as a suggestion

I thought about it…we'd only been goin out for about a week, but Vito hadn't told me any secrets…

"it ain't like a secret." I decided, "No, it's more like a feelin- it's like every good feelin there is -happenin at the same time. Like pina coladas on the beach and the sun and the spray- (the real spray, like, from the ocean and not from the bottle), and…and you know where I'm goin with this?"

Where was I goin with this? I sighed.

" It's like everything is A-o.k- even if it's not. And it feels like it just might last-"

"-Forever?" she said, wide-eyed.

"I dunno. I guess." I shrugged, "But usually it's about a month."

"Mike never told me anything about that stuff."

"What stuff?"

"Like about skateboardin or throwin stones into lakes or any o that."

"We haven't really talked, but I do know he likes techno and hip-hop- anythin with a good beat. And how he wants to open his own auto body shop when he saves up enough, but for now he's just workin on his own body. So he goes to the gym when he gets the time." I said. There was one more thing, I smiled when I remembered.

"He said he liked V-ball."

She smiled back at me, even though she looked kinda far-away.

* * *

><p>ZOEY<p>

She was talking about Mike again. Before just thinking about the two of them made me want to suffocate myself with a pillow. I'd figured Anne Maria was like the embodiment of all the things I hated about the world. And I hated how she had the power to bring out those things in Mike, whenever he was 'Vito' as if he couldn't even control it. But listening to her today- I realized she was way more complicated than that. She was honest, and I could tell she had a good heart. If she could see the good in Vito, why couldn't I? No matter how much I thought of it he didn't seem any deeper than his first impression. He was more like a reflection in an oily puddle than a person. But maybe Anne Maria had a point. Maybe I just wasn't looking at him from the right angle.

Mike on the other hand…it felt like the more I learned about him, the more I was beginning to think I didn't know him at all. Who was Mike? If you went by interests- he seemed to just have told both of us what we wanted to hear. If you went by feeling…well…I didn't know what to feel anymore.

* * *

><p>ANNE MARIA<p>

I hadn't been able to talk to anybody about Vito. I'd never felt dis much for a guy. But now I was getting to thinkin, I kept wonderin what was goin on with him. He only ever wanted to talk to Zoey, and I hated dat. So I figured, what are words worth anyways? Nothin compared to how he felt about me. But he'd told Zoey so much stuff that he didn't bother sharing with me. Maybe she did know him better- maybe this Mike guy was the real deal, but that would make Vito-

I couldn't let my mind go there. Vito had to be the real deal. He just had to. I knew what he felt for me was real. I just knew it. I knew there didn't seem to be much to him, he was simple, widout no drama, and I liked that. But sometimes when I looked in his eyes I tried to see what was there, and I don't know why they say that works, because there was nothing but gorgeous brown-ness. I knew he had a real heart. I felt it pumpin through his blood when he held out his biceps for me to touch. I could feel it beatin when he pulled me to him. As long as Vito had a heart that felt for me like mine did for him, it didn't matter what was in his head.

* * *

><p>SCOTT<p>

I was feeling lucky today, now I knew how to get that stupid shark off my heels. It was probably why I figured I'd tell the blonde one what Chris had been up to, how he'd set Fang loose, and how if my hair was a red flag-there was no telling how bad her outfit might tick him off.

"He hates the colour red." I explained, while she sat on the couch, reading a magazine.

She looked up in surprise and said,

"Really?" she put down the magazine and went, "So that's what ol' McLean's been up to…"

Then she leaned forwards and said more quietly, "That means he's after us both. I'm glad you told me, kid. Remember, it's us against him."

She glanced around the room like she expected Chris to be spying on us from behind the TV. She sure was being a drama queen. Didn't she realize I had everything under control?

I looked around when I stepped out of Chris' cabin, as the sun was setting I could just make out the outline of my sharky enemy chasing that moron on the edge of the beach. I'd almost wanted him to be waiting right outside when I put my newest plot into action.

I headed off in the direction of the mine. I busied myself with the thought of what I'd have to tell the others when I got back. It seemed like a lot of work, but I just needed to divert the others attention away from me long enough to seal the deal and get the cash. It was typical cabin fever, sooner or later they'd all find someone not to trust. I happened to be top of the list- but it wouldn't be hard to get them to think Mike was up to something. He didn't go disappearing like I did but he was one shifty guy, and now I knew why, I could make him their enemy, and my pawn all at the same time. It was like killing two birds with one stone, which was something Pappy had taught me to do as soon as I could as I could pick up a slingshot. Right then some white stuff dropped on my shoulder. Was that bird shit?

It was on the branch right above me. It looked harmless enough, if you ignored the two beaks.I made a grab for it but it flew up and settled way higher. It chirped in this annoying sing-song way, as if it had won or something. Just then I stepped on a 'Y shaped twig. I whipped out my lucky tooth and the twine I'd got for Zoey, and after a moment I'd whittled it into a decent slingshot. I picked up a stone and weighed it in my hand. The stupid bird tweeted again. I grinned. That would be the last noise to come out of its beak..s. I stretched back the twine but before I could let go something darted past me at full speed. It was that doofus intern. He was screaming in that creepy high-pitched voice as he passed, when he saw me he hid behind me for cover. Just then Fang showed up around the bend. He looked confused again. But he shook his head and stepped forward. I heard the intern whimper and crouch lower when I stepped forward too. I kept my eyes locked on the fish. He growled and exposed three rows of thin triangle-shaped blades for teeth.

He looked from the intern and back to me, but not before I'd whipped out my little surprise. When no-one was looking I'd swiped the tablecloth out from under lunch and stashed it with me. It was red as rootbeer…-was not.

In one quick motion I cast it out over the intern's head. He gave out a muffled cry from underneath it before shaking his head and running in panic.

It was pathetic, but you had to expect. What happened next was less expected.

Fang was running too, but he wasn't going after the doofus. He was coming right at me. I nearly dropped my lucky tooth with how quickly I got outta there. I'd need all the luck I could get, now I had a killer shark on my tail.

* * *

><p>ZOEY<p>

Things were beginning to feel hopeless, I kept walking around thinking of ways to get out. I think Anne Maria had already given up, it seemed like she was just about ready to fall asleep, she was sitting on a rock her head propped up with one hand.

I wondered if the others would have to come get us. The way things were going Jo would probably find a way to blame Anne Maria. She wasn't exactly an active part of the escape effort- but it wasn't like she was the reason we were down here in the first place. Saying that was going too far...wait, sine when had I started defending her…I think if I remembered right it was Cameron's accident had sealed up one end Lightning's shouting which had brought down the ceiling on the other end. Wait- that gave me an idea.

* * *

><p>ANNE MARIA<p>

"We're friends right?" she asked, out of the blue.

I woke up,

"Hey- I neva said dat." I said, rubbing my eyes.

She slumped her shoulders and looked at me. She was doin that guilt-thing again…

"I didn't say no either." I finished, not meetin her eyes, though I could tell she was smilin.

"Um…remember how you said you wished your friends woud give you a, you know, more honest opinion of your singing?" she asked.

"I might've said dat…" I said, "what gives?"

"I want you to sing for me- right now- I'll tell you what I think."

"You sure? I don't know…I'm tired, can't we do this later-?"

"No! I mean…I _really_ want to see what you've got." She said. I guess I owed it to her anyways, I'd told her all that stuff about havin friends, and I guessed maybe she decided she should make one. I didn't count on it being me but it wasn't like there was anybody else in here. I thought about it for a sec. Hey, who better for the job than me? She obviously needed somebody with my kind of experience, social skills and fashion know-how. She didn't need to look at me like that, it was like watchin Bambi right after they iced his mom. She was makin me feel, I dunno…protective of her, I guess. And man, she sounded desperate. I mean- more desperate than usual.

"Alright." I said, getting up and dusting off my hands, "Here goes:"

I cleared my throat and shut my eyes. This kinda thing required concentration.

"**UuuNNNNBREeAK MYY heeAAaRRRTTt**

**SSA-AAYYY YOouUU LOVvEE MEeeEE AGGEAaiIIINNN**

**UNNNDOOooOO THIS HUUrrtTT ThAT**-"

I didn't get to finish beause right then everything started shaking. I opened my eyes and Zoey was coverin her ears- for a moment I was upset but that was before I noticed she was blockin out the sound of the rocks fallin left and right. The wall was down- just like dat! Well, most of it anyways.

Zoey was beamin and she started climbin over the rubble to get out.

"Ey- ain't you gonna tell me how I was?" I said.

"Huh? Oh yeah, well, um…" she said… pausing, with one foot over the wall. She looked like she was strugglin."What can I say?…you really brought the house down." She said.

I rolled my eyes, but somethin about that comment made me smile.

She smiled back, and then offered to help pull me over when she saw me lookin at the rocks, thinkin about what they were gonna do to my nails.

* * *

><p>SCOTT<p>

I'd been running through the woods for the last half hour. I kept trying to get into the mine but every time I slowed down the stupid shark got so close my skin grazed teeth. I had to think of something and fast- Fang was gaining on me. I noticed something when I neared the tunnel entrance. The intern from earlier had managed to untie himself and was now heading towards the cabins (when he matched eyes with me he smiled all smug, I flipped him off. ) I paid for not looking where I was going and I tripped.

I rubbed my head and looked up. Fang was right there. He spread his megamouth open in what I guessed was a grin. He had me now. I looked down- then I looked up. Hm…maybe not yet.

* * *

><p>LIGHTNING<p>

There was light at the end of the tunnel- Lightnin knew that could only mean one thing. Gold!

Sha-jackpot! Lightnin was finally gonna get his own cash stash! Lightnin wondered whether he should get Ugly Dude so he could watch Lightnin in awe as he took home the winnins- but that dude was nowhere to be found. Lightnin made a break for it and he never looked back!

* * *

><p>SCOTT<p>

After I pulled my belt off I whipped it around the branch above me and pulled myself up and outta the way of those teeth, Fang's jaws clashed on nothing and he glared up at me all angry. I adjusted myself on the banch and grinned back. Good thing sharks can't can't climb trees.

That was when Fang lunged himself at the tree trunk and hauled himself up- What the heck? Oh wait, land-shark…dammit! He smiled and snapped at my ankles. Maybe now was a good time to split.

* * *

><p>LIGHTNING<p>

Man! Lightnin was on fire! Not literally- fire ain't good for your game! Lightnin can recall some seriously nasty accidents- and all Lightnin can say is fuzzy mascot outfits, cheerleader sparklers and jetpack fuel don't mix! Lightnin couldn't think o that just now- Lightnin was goin for gold and nothing was gonna stop him!

* * *

><p>SCOTT<p>

I was nearly at the top of the pine tree. I could see the sun setting, if I got in too late they'd all get suspicious. Fang neared, grabbing branch after branch hungrily as he closed in. Cripes- Why hadn't I swung onto a birch? Or even an oak- Fang slowed down now- he knew I had nowhere to run- and if I grabbed onto the tip It'd probably…just…bend.

Perfect.

* * *

><p>LIGHTNING<p>

The endzone was in sight now, but the closer Lightnin got to the gold- the less it was shimmerin!

"SAVE SOME GOLD FOR LIGHTNIN!" screamed Lightnin into the shadows.

* * *

><p>SCOTT<p>

Fang had stopped and had opened his mouth wide, what did he think, I was gonna come quietly? When I inched further up the shark was stunned.

"What are ya, chicken? Aren't ya gonna come get me?" I taunted, taking hold of the tip of the tree itself, cause I'd got to where I couldn't safely grab the branches, or they'd just snap off. The tree bent low, and it strained somewhere lower down. It wouldn't support us for long.

Fang growled and came closer, the tree bent summore. I glanced down without tipping the shark off to my plans. It still wasn't low enough for me to jump off without breaking my neck. But even Fang didn't seem to want to go any higher than this. He seemed to prefer waiting for me to give up and fall into his mouth. It was not going to happen.

I faked a yawn and leaned back as casual as I could leaning on a branch as wide as my big toe.

Fangs'eyes widened. Then he glared. Good, I was pissing him off.

I took out my lucky tooth and let my gaze drift away to the sunset, I didn't even give the shark a stray glance while I used it to pick my teeth, which was just about all he could take, I guess. He jumped up at me and grabbed on to the branch with his fin scraping my hand. –Yikes- guess it's true what they say about shark skin. I'd have to remember to make myself a new belt after I was done skinning the fish.

"Whatchya waitin for, Baitbreath?" I shouted, looking directly into his eyes. Fang leaned forwards- his growls were low and dangerous now, and his teeth were up close and personal. He arched, ready to clamp jaws round my head- that was when I jumped.

The fall wasn't far before I hit the ground. My knee got scraped up pretty bad cause of those stupid holes in my jeans. -Chef's fault for makin me rip em in the first place. I winced, but shook it off to avoid giving him the satisfaction.

"Thanks for the lift,chum" I said, dusting off my hands. "too bad the return trip's a little more…rocky." Fang hardly had time to widen his eyes in shock before the tree snapped backwards, flinging him halfway across the island, where he landed with a thud onto a stone outcrop near the shore. Right where I planned. The speck that was Fang didn't move. Either he was dead, or stone-cold unconscious. Yeah, stone was the word for it- it was just like using a giant slingshot after all.

I'd landed on top of the mine. I heard crashing inside- I must've triggered something. It didn't matter, by the time I got in it'd be over.

I raced up the tunnel, it was getting dark and I was flashlightless, but I knew every swerve of the landscape, every crack in the ground by now.

* * *

><p>LIGHTNING<p>

Lightnin had almost completely lost sight of the gold- but this wouldn't be the first time Lightnin's blacked out on the way to victory! Lightnin kept at it at full speed, every now and then stupid rocks tried to trip Lightnin- there were a few of those hangy spiky thingies- but they were no match for the Lightnin! Literally crumbling at Lightnin's feet -after hittin him in the head.

* * *

><p>SCOTT<p>

I was almost there- I counted one, two, three tunnels passed- that meant right ahead was…Sparky?

I stopped right in time but the short-sighted idiot crashed right into me.

"Dude, Lightnin told you to quit tryina put the moves on Lightnin!" he said, getting up and shaking his head.

"Wha- I'd rather eat a handful of bees." I got up and put myself between him and the view of the tunnel exit, which still stood out with all the light from the sunset outside, which hopefully'd be over soon.

"Sha-please, dude- Lightnin knows you want what Lightnin got- " he said, pointing at himself,

"-_**live**_ bees." I added.

"then why'd you tackle the Lightnin in your undies?" he pointed, "a dude can't be walkin around with his dignity around his ankles- pull up your pants, fool."

"You're the one that crashed into me at a million miles an hour." I said, hitching my jeans back on, but I'd left my belt behind, so there was no keeping them up.

"Well duh-You were right in Lightnin's blind spot!" he shouted, pointing his finger at me.

It figured, if he was enough of a doofus to have a blind spot _directly in front of him_ it wasn't such a shock the deluded idiot could think I was into him. At least he wasn't looking at the exit – just needed to keep him that way until the sun went down.

He started jogging in place and said, "Lightnin was just about to go get himself some gold, Ugly, watch and learn-"

"Wait, gold?"

"Sha-yeah- that's what Lightnin just said! It's bound to be right at the end of this tunnel- waitin for Lightnin!"

"Uh-yeah, about that- I was just down there. There isn't any gold"

"Then why'd it be glowin like that- step aside, Lightnin'll prove it."

"No! I mean, there was gold- and I went down to get it, but when I turned around to go get you- something grabbed me- some kinda mutant"

"a demon?" he asked, his eyes wide.

"uh- yeah…well anyways it headed for the tunnel and I knew it'd go right for you"

"Sha-duh- Put a little more meat in its diet!" shouted Lightning.

"Yeah…and I couldn't let _that_ happen so I jumped it- and it took a while but I whipped it in the end." I said, dusting off my hands.

"And then it ate your belt?" he asked, wide-eyed.

"And then it ate my belt." I finished.

"No offence Ugly Dude, but _that_ is the dumbest thing Lightnin has ever heard."

Was he on to me? Of all the times this coulda happened- why did he have to take a break from being an idiot now? He kept talking,

"A guy like you can't take on a monster- I've seen waterboys with more muscle!

– Now _Lightnin_ could've taken that monster-no problem. Why didn't you just let Lightnin at it?"

"Cause I didn't want you to get hurt."

_There it was. The biggest lie I'd ever told_.

"Now lets get outta here." I said.

"Wait a second- what happened to your knee, Ugly Dude?" he pointed it out, it was bleeding pretty bad now.

"It tried chompin off my leg but I nailed it in the head with a broken axe and it knocked out."

* * *

><p>LIGHTNIN<br>Lightnin hadn't seen someone look that beat up since he and his bros took out this punk who refused to do our book reports. Even after Lightnin _explained _how you can't expect a football superstar to maintain a D average on the side without a dedicated bookie. Lightnin eneded up havin to teach that nerd a thing or two about what happens when you're goin against the natural order

(- and by teach, Lightnin means smack!)

Lightnin almost missed a practice game! And what's worse the fool went blabbin to the principal about it, but it's not like he'd take away his star athlete's trainin time by givin him a bunch of detentions, so he just took the little runt outta daily homeroom so he could spend half an hour assistin the Lightnin on his work. The dude was reluctant at first, but after the first lesson, let's just say Lightnin taught him the meanin of co-operation. And by taught, Lightnin means- wait a minute, where was Lightnin goin with this…

Sha-now I remember! Ugly dude might not have rescued Lightnin, but he did put his freckle-covered neck on the line for him! Lightnin don't know much about demons- but this one sounded really…demonic!

"So you mean it might come back for Lightnin?" Lightnin asked.

"I think just to be safe we should stay away from it." He answered.

All of a sudden there was a crash sound and a whole lotta shakin- and for a second Lightnin thought the sky was fallin like the time the others were watchin him demonstrate his invincibility! Lightnin really thought it was the sky- until a bunch of dumb stones landed on Lightnin's head -and even bigger ones started droppin all over the place!

* * *

><p>SCOTT<p>

I knew what that crash was. Fang must've woke up, found the tree and landed on top of the mine. He better not have tracked me- otherwise he'd know I was inside. For the first time in five days I could actually say I was better off in here. But not for long. Now that I knew that whole red thing was just as bogus as the 'Rollston Academy Award for Excellence in Hosting' hanging in Chris' living room, I would have to figure out a new way of getting past that shark in one piece. This was going to be a piece of cake.

My train of thought was broken by the village idiot, who had just picked me up and took off towards the main tunnel.

"What the heck are you doing?" I asked, not able to hide my annoyance.

"If Lightnin's not mistaken -you're an injured player. There's _no way_ you can't make this run on your own!" he yelled, he kept on running with one arm pushed out in front of him like he was parting a football field and bending to avoid the rocks that kept falling everywhere.

* * *

><p>LIGHTNING<p>

Man, Lightnin's used to carryin his teammates- but not _literally_- but Lightnin knew Ugly Dude was no match for such magnitude of hard core avalanchitude! It was the least Lightnin could do after the whole demon thing- And as long as loverboy kept his hands where Lightnin could see em it was no problem.

BRICK

Jo had taken care of the creature, and we'd gone back to work on moving the rocks when there was a sound behind us.

"How'd it get out?" shouted Jo looking up at the moth. It was worse for wear, but it had escaped relatively unscathed. Right then it sprayed a strange white-hot liquid out of its trunk. We jumped away from the stream of the stuff. We looked down at the puddle, smoke issued from it as it burned a hole in the solid rock. We were both backed against the wall now, and it was reeling backwards, as if preparing to shoot more of it right at us. Jo looked across at me, and I knew right then and there she was just as scared as I was.

"Jo?" I called -"Brick?" she called across to me at the same time. What did she want to say?

"You first." I said.

She began, "If I had to chose somebody to –die...in a mine with-"

- Jo looked like she was really struggling to get the words out. But she still looked me fiercely in the eyes. I blinked at her. This must be it. We were going to die. Jo was always never-say-die- and she'd said it herself. At the same time, we were going to go together, and she was looking at me like…like she wanted to be with me…if she could chose who she died with-

"It's one choice I wouldn't have to make!" she finished. Suddenly she was smiling, but she wasn't smiling at me- she was looking up at the ceiling. She tossed a heavy stone as easily as if this was shotput practice. It struck a stalactite squarely, which cracked and fell heavily down on the creature. The crash as it hit the ground caused a good portion of the pile of rock to tumble downwards. It gave a wounded cry- it had been struck in the head.

"Sorry pal but nobody's dying tonight- except maybe you!" said Jo, chuckling.

* * *

><p>ZOEY<p>

Anne and I hadn't gone far before we heard a voice in the dark. The kind of voice that makes you feel like the temperature's just dropped about six degrees.

"Are you guys lost?"

It was Scott- he must've just made his way back from the lower tunnels.

"No-the others sent us down here- they should be by the lake…"

"-Nah they're not there." He said, glancing further down the main tunnel. He continued,

"Yeah, I saw them, everyone's split up- Cameron's with Jo and Brick and Lightnin's down in the tunnels." He explained this while kicking a rock so it rolled over.

"Everyones accounted for" he looked up from what he was doing,

"- except for Mike."

Anne Maria jumped back because a centipede had slithered out from under the rock.

"Mike?" I asked, blinking at him. I started thinking of all the horrible things that could have happened to him and I felt my breathing quicken.

"Yeah that guy's a slippery one-" he said, picking the dirt from under his fingernails,

"-snuck off while the others were talkin- weird, I figured he might have been looking for you…" he looked up, but I couldn't tell if he was talking to me or Anne Maria.

"-But I guess he has other plans…" his voice trailed off into the darkness.

"Plans?" I looked at him, I was trying to read him but he didn't lift his eyes from what he was doing for a moment.

"What- you think he's up to somethin?" asked Anne Maria. For the first time he looked up, and stared at me seriously before replying.

"You don't?"

Of course Mike might have seemed strange- I mean it was one of the things that was so endearing…and confusing about him. I started-

"Mike's just-"

"-I mean the guy never seems to have his story straight…" said Scott.

" I'm just going by the facts, and the fact is for a guy who talks so much about being an actor, he sure leaves out alotta specifics. I mean, has he even said where he got his lessons?

"I dunno, somewhere in Nova Scotia I guess…" I said.

Scott stopped so quick I thought a rock had fallen from the ceiling and hit him on the head. Turning around he said,

"You don't mean Academy for the Incurably Artistic and Downright Performy?"

I tilted my head, I had no idea, but it sounded like it was probably right. How many drama schools could there be in Bridgewater?

Scott looked from me to Anne Maria, when he could tell neither of us were getting why this was such a big deal, he kept talking.

"Isn't that the place that trained _Devin Grenich_?"

Me and Anne Maria exchanged glances- from her raised eyebrow I knew she had about as much of a clue as me who that was.

"Devin Grenich," said Scott, "The man who conned the entire audience of_ I Survived a Deserted Island Full of Scorpions_, and his fellow cast mates -by pretending his grandma died -so nobody voted him off and he won a billion bucks- you never heard about him?"

"Wait…" said Anne Maria, looking like she was calculating something in her head,

"You don't think that's what Vito's doin, -playing all these parts on purpose?"

I looked to Scott, who shrugged,

"If he isn't, it seems like a real waste of training if you ask me-" he said,

"all Grenich had to do was learn to get all teary-eyed and now he owns half of Canada Cola."

Scott walked over between us and lowered his voice,

"Hey, maybe hes just an innocent actor," he said, "-or maybe he's been conning us this whole time...I mean think about it -that kind of skill yet he seems to mess up almost every challenge, but then he goes nice guy Mike and no one votes him off…till later on -when he can use those skills to steal first place from right under our noses."

There was a short pause during which I had the weirdest feeling that someone was creeping around in the darkness of the tunnel behind me there was a soft clicking sound but nothing was there.

"Not to mention the added bonus of datin two girls at the same time." He added.

* * *

><p>ANNE MARIA<p>

I didn't want it to be true, but it had to be- if Vito lived in Nova Scotia how else could he be so…Jersey if he wasn't actin? Maybe Scott was right…and dat meant Vito wasn't playin me over Zoey, and Mike wasn't playin Zoey over me- that guy was just playin the both of us!

Dat jerk! No wonder he'd bailed on our date earlier, and no wonder he had Red thinkin they were some kind of hot item. He was just like all the rest of em, I had to admit it. I knew it didn't feel dat way …but I wasn't some kind of idiot- even if he must've thought I was one. And I knew that right now the facts were pointin right at the guy.

" Till we know for sure we don't know who Mike is, or what his motives are." Said Scott,

" He might try anything to cover his tracks, he knows this whole "acting trigger' excuse might not hold for long. "

Scott kicked over a stone and said,

"He'll probably say he's mental and he can't control it or something… Who knows."

We stood there for a while, it was a lot to think about. My head was startin to hurt real bad. Everythin was real quiet until there was this noise- There was a gasp from Zoey and we whipped our heads round to look back-

"What was that?"

it was like this weird groaning from futher up the tunnel with the webs.

"M..-Mike?" said Zoey, she stepped forwards into the darkness- den Scott grabbed her wrist.

"What are you, nuts?" he said, "It could be that homeschooled hobit -and his pack of mutant mole things-"

"Yeah- you're right…I forgot about…" said Zoey but she kept lookin at the tunnel.

We started headin out when we heard a small shout from far back.

"Ey- I recognize those pipes.." I said, turnin around

"Cameron?" shouted Zoey clambering up the tunnel with her eyes lookin up the wooden stairway into the dark.

"Ey, -watch the webs" I pointed out to Scott, he was lookin pretty pissed off, but I'd be too if I looked like I'd just lost a parkinglot fistfight.

"Zoey?" came the little guy's voice, "Is that you?– You've got to see this, it's a perfect example of clubiona trivialis corinnidae chrysallis!"

"In English, Brainiac." I said.

"It's a cocoon!" said Cameron, he sounded like he'd had one too many pixie sticks. "Quick!"

We rushed up those creaky stairs, which I tell ya, is hard to do wearin a pair o heels. When we got to the top we ended up in a wide open cavern. Cameron wasn't far- we headed towards him to see what all the fuss was about

"Guys, wait!" we stopped just in time- dere was this big like canyon between us and him, it was pitch black down there-

"Woah." I said, "Wonder how low that goes."

There was a narrow bridgeof rock across the pit- kind of like the downtown overpass- complete with rocky pillars supportin it, and probably just as shaky. We were gonna cross it to check out what Cameron was freakin over before we saw it was right there, in the middle of the bridge.

It was some kinda great big- you know, one of those things that wasps come out of- a pod, it was long and white…and it was _movin_.

"What do you think it is?" asked Zoey. Cameron was lookin at it all wide-eyed and you could tell he was about ready to hypothesize, measure and classificate it, but Scott cut him off.

"Who cares- whatever it is, it looks like it's wakin up," he said, pointing to it, "and I ain't about to become some giant bug's breakfast."

The thing made some more strange noises- they echoed around the place. They were the sounds we were hearin before, back in the tunnel.

Scott picked up a big rock and started aimin it at the pod. The little guy popped up in front of it;

"Agh-What are you doing-I'm trying to get a clear shot" said Scott, shifting left and right.

"You can't hit it- I- we haven't even determined its species yet!" said Cameron.

"Fine, we can do that…" he said, rolling his eyes, "after we kill it."

"But-wait" Cameron dived forwards right when Scott tossed the rock and it ended up missin the mark.

"Ah great-" said Scott getting up. " Look what you-" but he stopped, his shot had hit the rocks under the bridge- it was crumbling under the weight of it and it was goin down fast, with us on it.

There was nothing to hold onto and the whole thing started leaning down on our side and up on the other- like a see-saw. We jumped off the edge of it but Cameron was on the other end and it was one heck of a jump for him to get to the cliff on that side, but he landed on it. What was left of the bridge was doin a nose-dive into oblivion and the thing that was on it rolled over and made sounds even louder this time. That was when Cameron did the stupidest thing I ever seen.

""What the heck are you doing?" shouted Scott after the little guy jumped back onto the rock.

His weight on that end was the only thing balancing out the cocoon on the other side, but he wasn't too heavy, and it was still leaning down.

""Scott, throw me your shark tooth!" he said as loud as his voice could go.

"What do you need that for?" he answered, "Death by plummeting ain't good enough for ya?"

"Just do it!" he shouted, clenching his fists and stamping the unsteady rock under him.

Scott tossed him the tooth and without missin a second he sliced it along the length of the pod thing, it tore open and we saw what was in it.

"Mike!" shouted Zoey, all wide-eyed.

It was Vito, he was asleep- or passed out, not so sure which, but he shot up at the sound of Red's voice.

"Zoey?" he called out, "I'll save you!"

"Uh-not really the problem here." said Scott, when Mike realized where he was he looked freaked.

"Mike, grab my hand!" shouted Zoey, she leaned over the edge of the cliff and stuck her arm out.

Mike rushed to one side of the rock and it leaned even more- on the other edge Cameron backed up to keep it from tipping over. Mike reached up for her hand and held onto it.

"We've gotta get out of here." Said Scott, he motioned for me to follow him. He was near the exit to the main tunnel. "I mean, we got to go get help." He added.

I looked back at the others, the situation didn't look good. I turned to him and nodded.

Scott's flashlight was pointin forwards, but I couldn't help lookin back. I thought about the way he was lookin at her, only at her. Man…it was cold in here.

* * *

><p>CAMERON<p>

According to my calculations we were in a closed system, as long as Mike and I stayed on opposite ends of the rock it would be balanced on its fulcrum- but once Zoey pulled him up, my side of it would be falling into the chasm below so fast I'd be done for by the time I hit the bottom, if there was one.

"Mike" I called out, but his feet were already off the ground and he was pulling himself onto the cliff edge. There was a jolt and the rock started diving backwards, with me on it. I ran over to the other side, and it stopped, but not for long, because now it started to tip forwards.

"Quick, Cameron!" called Mike, he turned around and reached out for my hand. I stood up on my toes at the edge and stretched up, but I was too short to grab hold. I fell back down. The rock was leaning over so sharply I was looking directly into the chasm below. I backed away to the other end and just as quickly it started to tip over this way, I knew it was all over, the rock was leaning over steeply, almost vertical now, I tried clutching onto the rock to try to climb over to the other side, but I was losing strength quickly, I was dizzy, my senses were fading so I kept my brain active with thinking.

_I guess this is it._

_I guess this is what I get for trying to…to do something by myself for once, everyone was right-_

….I looked at my hands to avoid looking into the chasm- they were shaking.

_I was going to die and I didn't even accomplish anything. No first bike ride, no first , I hadn't even got to intern at N.A.S.A and finally experience weightlessness (they had already accepted after I won the young scholars essay contest with my thesis '900 things you probably didn't know about pulsars' but they said I'd need to wait a month while they did some 'recalibrations on helmet size.') _

I looked up hopelessly at the spikes on the ceiling above, and tried not to think about the corresponding spikes that would be at the bottom of this place.

_Mom said there was no way she could let me go, but I knew after winning Total Drama everybody would stop treating me like a kid. But that was all over now, I hadn't even won my first challenge yet, and every time I tried to go somewhere on my own I wound up stuck in a mineshaft or…just plain doomed._

It was getting tougher to hold on now but it was all I could do to stop myself rolling into the deep.

_I thought at least I could go knowing I had my first real friend, but now I knew Mike cared about me about as much as he cared about my take on Democritus' theory (I tried to talk to him about it but he got distracted whenever Zoey walked by)._

I looked at him. He wasn't even looking at me. It was like I was already dead- no wait…was he…climbing back down?

"What? Mike-what are you doing?" I asked incredulously.

"Oh you know-" he said, landing on the rock and causing it to swing wildly upwards on my end.

"-just-uh, dropping by!" He grinned at me even though he kept glancing downwards,

I smiled back, I could've hugged him but that would have been difficult because of our predicament. Every time it seemed like there was stable equilibrium, the rock jerked dangerously downwards on one side and we had to shift again.

"Zoey!" said Mike in earnest, she had just jumped down onto Mike's side and lost her balance, luckily he'd caught her by the hand before she could fall backwards into the rift. "Zoey why'd you do that- If anything happened to you…you know I'd-"

"If you think I'm just going to stand there and watch you –don't you understand how much I-"

There were a lot of missing words, and they looked at eachother for a moment like they were searching for the answers.

Mike's fingers curled between hers for a second before she pulled away and hastily picked something up off the ground.

"What's this?" she said holding up what looked like a length of white rope. Mike lifted up the end of it and replied,

"I'm not sure- I saw it on the floor of one of the tunnels- I thought it was some of your- your knitting and I followed it…" he was trailing his hands across the cord so they brushed against Zoey's,

"…I guess I thought it might lead me to…-to you." He was looking at her again, and this time Zoey didn't look away. Mike moved closer to her and touched his hand to her cheek. The rock started tipping downwards in their direction, but they weren't paying attention.

"Guys!" I said a little too loudly, they jumped apart.

"Oh no!" said Zoey, moving over closer to the middle.

"What do we do now?" asked Mike, they were both looking at me, they really valued my academic aptitude!

"Uh- Cameron?"

"Oh- um- yes. A plan-" I looked around the cavern quickly, "Mike, try lassoing that stalactite up there- maybe we can climb our way up-"

Mike's eyes widened,

"But I can't! I mean-" Mike turned around but after seeing the look on Zoey's face he picked up the rope. "Okay." He said, though his voice was shaky.

He tied the rope into a slipknot and swung it around above his head a few times before tossing it up to the ceiling. Twice it missed, three times, by the twelfth time we realized this was getting us nowhere.

"It's no use." Said Mike, slouching.

_Suddenly there was a jolt- the pillar tha was supporting the rock was crumbling beneath us._

"Manitoba Smith would sure be handy right about now." Said Zoey, looking to Mike.

"Too bad you don't have your fedora." I ventured, "too bad you can't- you know- without it."

"Yeah I- no, wait!" said Mike, "I went Manitoba the second day we were in here-that time we almost crashed on the tracks- I didn't have the hat!"

"Of course!" I said, "Something must've reminded you of – of your trigger memory!"

He gave a look of dawning comprehension.

"You mean I didn't need the hat factor cause-"

_Another jolt._

"-cause I had to think about it?"

I nodded quickly. Mike frowned for a moment. Zoey looked confused and worried.

"Mike?"

"Don't worry Zoey, I know what I have to do. I've got to remember, I've got to make myself remember."

Zoey reached her hand towards him tentatively but clutched it to her chest instead.

Mike shut his eyes and stood squarely on the rock. He held his breath and balled up his fists. The rock below us gave another lurch but he didn't stop. He looked as though he was in an agony of concentration before gasping and opening his eyes.

"Oi, oi oi what do we ave here?" said Manitoba inquisitively before getting on all fours and pressing an ear to the ground. "What's that? A rockslide? Great galloping goannas!"

The survivalist shot up and looked around, "Ah, no problem- ol' Manitoba Smith'll have you outta this mess faster'n you kan say crocodile tears!"

Manitoba grabbed the rope and swung it around expertly before sending it soaring up to the ceiling, where it caught instantly to the stalactite overhead. He tugged at it twice to make sure it was secure and grabbed it with both hands.

"Now hold onto me, mates," he nodded to me, "Sheila," he winked at Zoey

"and yah'd better not be lettin go- else yeh'll be worse off than a dingo's breakfast." We grabbed on and he took a running start towards the end of the rock as it tipped backwards. We looked down when we realized there was nothing under our feet. The rock plummeted and was finally swallowed up in the darkness of the chasm below. There was a distant crash that echoed up to us, I shivered.

"**HAROOOOOOOO!**" shouted Manitoba, talking one arm off the rope and thrusting it in the air. The rope being stressed all the way over here it looked like it was going to slip off.

I looked over at Zoey, her eyes were shut tight. Manitoba's eyes were blazing. That was when the rope loosed from the ceiling. I shut my eyes too. I felt the distinct weightlessness that came from freefall- then- we hit the ground.

"Mike, you did it!" cried Zoey, beaming.

"Oi, girly- what are you cracked? Me name's Man-i-to-ba Smi-" but he didn't finish because Zoey had pulled him into a squeeze of a hug. It was definitely Mike who was blinking now in surprise.

He was smiling nervously when just as quickly she pulled away and looked at him curiously.

"Wait a minute, how _did_ you do it? -what were you two talking about back there-" she raised an eyebrow and folded her arms. Mike glanced from her to me. I read his signal and walked towards the stairs.

"Uh, I have to go, er- clean my glasses!" I ventured, "No need to wait up for me-" I added, heading down to the exit.

* * *

><p>MIKE<p>

Well, I'd wanted to have time alone with her, and I guess this was it. It was time for the truth.

But the way she was looking at me now- it was like she was getting ready for another lie.

"There's that look again," she said, "there's something you're not going to tell me." She turned around sharply and mumbled, "what else is new."

"No, Zoey, it's not that-" I reached out and rested my hand on her shoulder. She tensed up a bit but she didn't shake it off.

"I-…I'll tell you." I said finally. She turned around and looked at me searchingly. I took a deep breath.

"I guess I was scared before…because most people I tell this to...they don't really stick around, Zoey- And I really don't want that to happen with you, you're the only thing –right- in my.." I grasped two handfuls of air- trying to find the right words,

"…in my whole _messed up_ life and..."

Her eyes were wide now and she came closer. I think she wasn't sure about what I was saying, but she wasn't going to give up on me, she'd hear me out. She looked like she was scared of getting hurt again. Looking like that, I think I wanted to pull her close to me right then and there.

". you're perfect" I finished.

Zoey looked like I'd just said the weirdest thing she'd ever heard. But was she…blushing?

"No, Mike, no I'm not- I'm nowhere near perfect- I'm-" she started.

"-You're super sweet and pretty and- understanding and different- i-in a good way.. and..pretty!- and did I say that already?" Oh no, it was happening- I was getting all flustered- I was making a mess of things already and I hadn't even said it yet- was the cave getting smaller-no,..no I had to focus. I had to stay in control. I took a deep breath.

"I've got Multiple Personality Disorder." There it was. The cards were on the table. Now it was time to face the inevitable.

But Zoey was totally quiet.

"Um..do you know what that is?" I asked, I hoped this was confusion silence and not the kind of silence that came before 'I knew something was off about you' I took another deep breath and continued,

"It means that some things happened to me..when I was a kid and- instead of getting over it, like a normal guy I- just, created another personality…to get away from it."

"So you mean they're not…characters?" she asked slowly.

"No, with characters you've got a choice of when you wanna switch them off. No- they..they've each got a mind of their own." I replied,

" It's like they're a part of me- except that they're _not_ me." I finished. I never seemed to run out of stupid things to say whenever it was time for me to make myself look like a nutcase, but now that I had a chance to make things right I could barely put together a sentence.

"Then which one are you?" asked Zoey. Why was she asking so many questions? Why wasn't she saying anything? I hate you, you're mental, anything so I wouldn't keep holding onto this feeling that…maybe she was okay with it.

"I'm..Mike." I answered simply.

And then she smiled. I remembered how much I missed that smile.

"I'm just glad you didn't say 'Manitoba Smith'" she said, playing with her bangles.

"Yeah?" I asked, smiling back. "You don't think he's…cool…and-" suddenly I felt nervous and I found myself with my hands in my pockets.

"and..adventurous..a-and-"

Then she put her finger to my lips and let's just say that even if I could talk I would have been breathless.

She spoke,

"Mike, you're all the adventure I want." Then she trailed her hand down and interlaced her fingers with mine. I felt my face getting warm and I knew I was blushing, and the next thing I knew I was talking,

"Zoey, I really _really _like you-" I said, meeting her eyes.

"like I think I- love you even." I said, and immediately I hoped I hadn't just made a big mistake.

"Aw, Mike! Of course I- feel the same way about you." She said, beaming.

"You do?" I asked, and she was nodding and before I knew it she was hugging me again, and I could smell the cinamonny smell of her hair and everything was the way it was before, but different- because she didn't awkwardly pull away just then the way she did before, for a moment we looked at eachother.

Not breaking my gaze I lifted my hand and brushed her cheek lightly with my thumb, then I closed my eyes and I bent to bring my lips to hers. Immediately the softness of her mouth, and the warm feeling that was rushing through me took over and I nudged my face against hers.

She breathed sharply in response but then she pulled me tighter, and then we were so close I couldn't think about anything else except…Zoey…How the places where she touched me responded with flickers of pleasure…how her fingers curled perfectly around mine.

When we pulled apart she gave me the most adorable smile, like, ever, and she mussed up my hair, which made me smile too.

" Guess we should head back.." I said. I knew the others would be waiting for us to come back, although now looking at the nearly blocked off door part of me was secretly hoping for another cave-in.

* * *

><p>"Guys? Is that you?" came Cameron's timid voice from the other side of the rocks. He stood on top of a barrel to see over the wall. He shone his flashlight on us and smiled with relief "Oh, good- I thought it was-"<p>

He quailed when his light fell upon the body of the creature.

"What…is that?"

"It's some kind of mutant moth." Said Jo. Lifting one of its large wings and letting it drop with a thud.

"It looks more like…" said Cameron, cautiously leaning towards it and adjusting his glasses, suddenly his eyes lit up in recognition,

"Dinaeus Plexipus!"

"Gezundheit." Said Jo.

"No, I mean…this is the same monarch butterfly from earlier"

"In case you haven't noticed, there's a little bit of a scale difference between the two of 'em."

"It's got this mark…" said Cameron pointing to a spot on it's wing- "…I know it."

"Then how'd it get like this?" asked Jo.

"Well, it must have been exposed to some mutagenic factors like…" he trailed off and thought for a moment before almost shouting, "Of course! The flower!"

"You mean the plant out front?" said Jo. "It looked okay to me"

"Of course it did, there might not be radiation inside the mine- maybe there's some in the aquifer under it, and that's why the moles are so-"

"Special?" offered Jo sarcastically.

"-uh..mutigenic." finished Cameron, "But everything outside, the plants- all radioactive."

"I dunno. It looked okay to me." said Brick, shrugging.

"It must have been activated-… but it would need mechanical shock or high temperature or electricity to cause something like this!" he indicated the sheer size of the creature.

"It doesn't matter." Said Jo, walking away as if that ended the matter, " It's dead."

"I don't know…" said Cameron, "looks more like its just-"

"Yo, guys Zoey, Vito an Cam are in trouble back in the- Woah what da heck is dis?" said Anne Maria, clambering over the rock wall and looking around.

"Hey- what are you doin here Cam? Where are the other two?" she said, arching an eyebrow.

"They're fine- they're back in the tunnel together-" said Cameron , "-as I was saying, it-"

"Together?" said Anne Maria, trailing off to one side of the tunnel where she seated herself on a rock.

The silence was broken by a shout in the distance

"**SHA-WATCH OUT, LOSERS!**"

Followed by a loud thud as Lightning tumbled headfirst over the rock wall, landing on top of a certain red-haired jerk.

"This ain't what it looks like!" shouted Lightning, jumping up. "Ugly Dude's the one who came on to Lightnin! He made the first move!" he pointed wildly at Scott, who smacked his own forehead in exhasperation. There was a short silence punctuated only by Lightning's panting.

"What were you saying?" asked Brick, picking up where they'd left off. But Cameron was fixated on the beast and was backing away from it slowly.

"I was going to say its unconscious- but I don't think so anymore…"

_**HSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!**_

"Run!" shouted Jo.

They ran for ages through the narrow tunnel system with Dangerous Plexipus close on their heels, especially Anne Maria's heels, because she was furthest behind. After they lost it around a corner she took a moment to stop and catch her breath, but when she leaned on one of the barrels lining the wall it tipped over.

"Ah!" she cried, causing the others to turn around. "Get it off me, get it off me!" she panicked, pointing at the goop that had spilled all over her shoes and that was quickly spreading into a large black puddle.

"No, Anne Maria it's not toxic, remember?" said Cameron, urging her on.

"Wait a second…" said Jo, dipping her index finger in the spill and sniffing it, "this stuff's oil!"

"Are you sure?" asked Brick, "We can't stay here-"

"I'm always sure." Said Jo, "And I've got a plan."

"Stringbean! Toss me your glasses." She instructed.

"Will I get them back?" he asked uncertainly, not wanting to give up something he was bat blind without.

"Newsflash-You won't need em if you get _killed_ Stringbean…- hand em over!" she shouted. After taking them off he carefully passed them to her.

"Scott, the flashlight-" she said.

She took the glasses and the flashlight and then she tore the bandage off her wrist. Aiming the flashlight to the thin cloth, she held Cameron's glasses in between.

The beast appeared in the tunnel opening behind them, and locked its sight on them.

"Jo…?"

"Just a little to the right and- there we go!" shouted Jo, brandishing the burning piece of fabric with a grin.

Realizing what she was about to do Brick urged the others to head for the exit, before stopping and looking round.

"Jo! Come on!" he shouted, holding out his arm. But Jo didn't look back.

She stood her ground and waited until the beast was almost upon her before letting the fire drop into the spill and sprinting away from the fiery explosion that erupted from the spill almost instantly.

The licks of flame were almost scorching her hair by the time she whipped round the corner, winding up back in the lake cavern with the others.

Just as quickly the fire exhausted itself in a loud burst of smoke, and the tunnel exit was scattered with small fragments of rock and shrapnel. Jo caught something in her hand that seemed to be one of the eyes of the beast. It glinted in her hand as she tossed it, chuckling malevolently,

"I guess that takes care of our pest problem."

"Jo- what the heck was that?" said Brick.

"Uh, Hello? I just saved all of your butts from a killer moth!"

"Butterfly-" interjected Cameron

"Whatever!" said Jo.

"You could have gotten us seriously injured!" shouted Brick.

"What was I supposed to do, just let it hunt us down and kill it-like _prey_?"

"We could have made it to that cave with the pickaxes" explained Brick, "- then maybe we could have-"

"-What if we didn't make it? We _could_ have all been bug food." Said Jo, prodding him in the chest. "There was no alternative." She said, crossing her arms.

"There's always another way!" said Brick emphatically, "We were just lucky there were no other barrels near by-" said Brick,

"-or that the tunnel wasn't full of highly explosive methane gas." offered Cameron, earning a deadly look from Jo.

"Jo- as your friend, can I just say that it's not always about-"

"Woah, woah, woah- since when have you been my friend?" said Jo, looking at Brick fiercely. He fell silent for a moment and his look of anger changed to hurt. Then he turned around and headed for the tunnels leading up to the main cave, while Jo handed Cameron his glasses and climbed the rocky terrace to the tracks above.

Everyone was quiet for a moment, the first to speak was Anne Maria

"Yikes, dat bug's not the only thing in here that just got _burned_."

* * *

><p>At Chris' Cabin, the only thing burning was the firewood as the harshness of the snowstorm outside had forced the two cohabiting cohosts to share the living room, although Chris was having trouble sharing his big screen TV.<p>

"Oh no, there is _no way_ I'm sitting here through an hour of your annoying red-carpet fashion trashing." Said Mclean, grabbing the remote and flipping through the channels.

"Hey!" protested Blaineley, just returning with blankets and dropping them on the couch.

"Ah, that's better." Said Chris, settling on a channel.

"_You've just tuned in to the second half of the Blindsided marathon -stick around for four hours of Canada's favourite violent vice."_

"Four hours of watching a bunch of morons trying to do an obstacle course in the dark?" asked Blaineley incredulously, sitting down next to him, "Ha! I think I'd actually rather _be_ blind."

"Hey- you can't knock quality entertainment." said Chris eating some of the popcorn from the bowl on his lap. "Oh man! Did you see that? Classic."

"Quality entertainment? That guy just got hit in the crotch with a plank!" said Blaineley.

"Ah, but you fail to see the subtle yet potent humour of the situation- he got hit in the crotch by a plank after being given the meaningless and distracting task of tossing a log into a bucket- just so when they replaced that bucket with a plank on a log, he'd be in for some wicked see-saw vs kiwis action- it's funny because he's the one who hit _himself_." explained Chris, pressing the instant replay button he'd had installed,

"Ohh the oh-so-painful irony!" he said grinning. There was a sarcastic snort from Blaineley, and Chris turned around to snipe back at her before realizing she wasn't rolling her eyes- she was stifling a laugh. When she saw him looking she snatched the remote, and the ensuing war that resulted ended in the overturning of the popcorn bowl , the tossing of many cushions and eventually, (as Chef discovered when he came mumbling to himself about why he always had to be the one to stoke the fireplace) in the two cohosts laying exhausted on the couch, Blaineley right leg slung over the back and Chris' left arm trailing on the floor, but their other two arms round eachother. Chuckling to himself Chef went to the control room, and returned with his camera.

* * *

><p>BRICK<p>

I don't care if she doesn't value teamwork, but that's not the same thing as not valuing the lives of your teammates, I always respected Jo for being able to hold her own, but she was completely a loose canon, a free agent. It was like she just wanted to prove something, and to her it was all about defeating the moth and not getting everyone away. She didn't care about anything, about any of us…not even me.

My dad always said to watch out for folks with something to prove. It was a close call this time but it made me wonder, how far was she willing to go?

Everyone was together for the while in the main cave, sitting around a fire Jo had made from the wood of an old crate. After Scott had mentioned how much it reminded him of an elimination ceremony, everyone prickled. Almost everyone knew who they wanted to send home. Anne Maria was newly suspicious of 'Mike' since Scott's information, and particularly peeved about how he and Zoey kept looking at eachother and smiling, and holding hands when they didn't think anyone was looking. Scott hadn't had time to tell Brick and Jo anything about Mike, but after his disappearance earlier had caused so much drama neither of them were too keen on him, although neither of them trusted the other so much either. The only ones who weren't ready to send him home were Lightning, Cameron and Zoey. Lightning was torn between anger at Jo over denying him his gold and the fact that she'd delivered on her promise of steak the previous night. Cameron, because he'd always known the truth, and Zoey…

* * *

><p>ZOEY<p>

Because even though Mike's story about running off to find me in the dark and following the string and getting wrapped up in web by a giant spider that he couldn't _actually_ remember seeing (invisible spiders? Could anything else sound more like a lie?) Even though all that sounded crazy, and Mike had said just what Scott said he'd say, that he was 'mental' -as Scott put it- and I even remember him saying something the other day when we were talking at night…I didn't remember it so well cause I was sleepy.

_I guess magic is all about doing crazy things, but being able to distract people from the truth well enough that they don't realize what's happening right in front of their eyes.~_

..despite every train of thought leading to Scott being right, something was telling me he was wrong about Mike. Being with him, it had felt so perfect…I guess Anne Maria was right, it really wasn't a 'think-things-through kinda thing.'

* * *

><p>LIGHTNING<p>

Lightnin intercepted Ugly Dude on his way tryina sneak out again- probably off to try an do some more work! Lightnin offered to go with the guy, an make sure he didn't get his butt kicked by one of them mutant monsters, but Ugly Dude was all like "I can do it by myself!"

Lightnin can respect a guy who don't need to be carried by his team, and that guy didn't really have a team,although Lightnin has to guess neither does Lightnin! ...That was it! I'd finally figured out who was on Team Lightnin, and he'd had already taken one for the team, one big one,- I mean- Lightnins heroics saved the day but now Ugly Dude was an injured player. And Lightnin had a big ol' debt to repay.

* * *

><p>CAMERON<p>

Mike had asked me to come along with him while he got the food, I figured he'd want to talk in private after his talk with Zoey, which I'd presumed had gone well.

"When you and Zoey got back after the explosion, did you happen to see Dineaus Plexipus?" I had asked, already knowing the answer.

"Well yeah," he said, "pieces of it anyways. All over the ground."

I sighed. Even though the radiation had morphed it by monstrous proportions, I still couldn't help missing it. Dineaus Plexipus was really dead.

"To tell you the truth, I wasn't really paying attention to the ground…" he said, smiling coyly.

He didn't need to tell me that he'd told her the truth- he was acting like a weight had lifted from his shoulders, and it was contagious. I'd clapped him on the back and congratulated him, and he told me that I was right (something I'm used to hearing but that still doesn't fail to make me light up inside) But I hadn't expected him to bring up the whole near-death experience thing from earlier.

"You're a genius- I mean, How'd you know it was me- wrapped up in that death-trap-cocoon thing?" he asked in earnest, "I mean, did you like, estimate my height or access your mental catalogue of known species of mutant spider or- something"

"Actually…" I said, thinking about it for the first time, "it was just a feeling- listening to it- I sort of _knew_ that it was you-"

Could that be right? It had no basis in fact, could it have been my first impulsive decision? I grabbed on to the closest thing to evidence that there was, so I wouldn't sound like a complete idiot.

"it was making these noises, see?" I said, "and-I seem to remember that you talk in your sleep."

Mike grinned guiltily, opening the last can of peas and stacking them in his arms,

"frequently" I added, "aaand you've said some pretty incriminating things, " I said in response to his eyeroll.

"Oh, Zoey!" I did my best Mike impression, "Marry me Zoey, let's run away together~" I dodged Mike's attempt to flick one of the peas in my direction.

"Hey- shh! I don't do that- and I don't suck my thumb."

* * *

><p>LIGHTNING<p>

Tall Dude told everybody that this was almost our last food and of course that just put everybody down. Dinner was some kinda mushed up yellow peas and Lightnin could tell there was hardly any protein in that stuff. But savin Ugly Dude's butt took alot outta Lightnin, so Lightnin ate his in ten seconds flat! Everybody was eatin theirs except Ugly Dude... if Lightnin was tired, that guy must've been even more. He was the one who was workin all day while Lightnin tried to score himself some aquatic protein pockets! He was the one who risked his life for Lightnin...not that Lightnin was scared of some dumb demonic demon…but how could he not be hungry? Lightnin looked at him and got a weird feelin, it wasn't indigestion...it was kinda like the feelin Lightnin got when he saw Jerry Rice break his leg tryn to score the winnin touchdown durin the Super Bowl (even though Lightnin knew that's just the kind of thing you expect to happen to the fool -after goin vegetarian!)

* * *

><p>SCOTT<p>

I wasn't hungry, Chef had made lasagne and I'd gone back for thirds before it had even reached the table. What the heck was this stuff? It looked like peas and tasted like mustard. I looked around, I wondered if anybody would notice if I just chucked it into that crack in the ground...they were all too busy eating, except Sparky, who was looking right at me. When he saw me looking he walked right up to me.

"Uh, hey dude. You gonna eat that?" he asked. The doofus must've already finished his.

Well, giving mine to him would be just as good as emptying it into a bottomless pit.

"Nah, you can have it." I said, holding it out for him to take.

For a moment he eyed it hungrily, but he pushed it back to me.

"Naw, dude, you did alot today-" he said, he scratched his head and looked away.

"Plus you're gonna need all the protein you can get to bulk up. You way too skinny for somebody who spends all day bustin rocks!"

Then he picked up a crate and lifted it a few times.

"Yeah but, you did all that running."

"Pssshh, Sha-Please- Lightnin didn't even break a sweat!" he said, flexing his arm, then he put down the crate next to mine and sat on it.

"Besides...Lightnin didn't forget what went down today- Lightnin might have run into that monster if it werent for Lightnin's man Ugly Du- I mean-..Scott. And it's not like Lightnin can trust any of the rest of these losers."

"Of course not"

"That's why us bros gotta stick together, right, bro?"

Uh..yeah, whatever you say...

"...bro"

"Sha-booyah!" he shouted, running back over holding the crate above his head. he turned around to face me and said "Go long, bro!" aiming the crate in my direction. That thing was going to smash my face in, I did what anybody else would do, I ran, but he didn't seem to take that as a sign that he should quit chasing me around like some kind of psycho.

Hadn't I had enough running today? Was the universe just conspiring against me- I mean Fang hadn't even been chasing after me cause of my red hair in the first place, it was more like he was after me, so I guess-

Wait a minute. If the shark had been after red in the first place, wouldn't he have gone after Mrs. McLean and her fancy shmancy red dress? But if she knew that then why'd-

Oh no, I'd just been played- and Scott Lagerhan never gets played! I was so angry I didn't look where I was going and ended up tripping knocking into a pile of crates, and if you think that hurts, well Sparky wasn't far behind.

* * *

><p>Zoey used the dried web from the cocoon to knit a small blanket for a shivering, curled up Cameron.<p>

"Thanks, Zoey" he said, sniffling a bit.

"You're the one I should be thanking, Cam. if it wasn't for you, Mike would be at the bottom of the mine by now." Said Zoey truthfully.

"Hey, are you alright? You look like you've got a cold or-"

"I'll be fine." He said, taking out his bottle of pills and shaking it, then putting them back in his pocket before she could get a good look at the label.

"Well…alright Cameron, g'night." She said finally, squeezing his shoulder before heading back over to the middle of the cave to sleep.

While everyone slept that night, gratefull for the heat of the fire in the cold of the snowstorm, far away a plan was being worked out that would soon seal their fates, just as sure as the next day's sun would be melting the ice.

* * *

><p>Zoey: You know, I've thought of it and my favourite would have to be Halloween, that's when the Autumn Fair's supposed to come to town- there's candy apples and you get to make costumes, too bad I don't go trick or treating any more...you're so lucky, Cam!<p>

Cameron: I'm the same age as you!

Zoey: Oh! uh...I mean- of course you are!

Cameron: I just started being allowed to go trick or treating- but Halloween would be way more fun if my mom wouldn't keep me on such a short leash all the time.

Mike: Let me guess, you mean she follows you around from house to house

Cameron: No, I mean she puts an ankle leash on me that lets me get to the end of the cul-de-sac and back.

Mike:?

Cameron: It's tied to the front door.

Zoey: That's too bad, you mustn't get much of a kick out of Halloween then-

Cameron: It can't really beat Literacy Day- the library lets you borrow a dozen books at once- and free bookmarks! My glasses are fogging up just thinking about it...

Zoey: That..uh.. sounds like fun, Cameron!

Cameron:Oh, it's spectacular! For some reason it hasn't really caught on yet...but Halloween is great too.

Zoey: I know! How neat would it be to be somebody else for a whole day?

Mike: Well it's not exactly 'neat'...

Zoey: Oops- forgot about your-

Mike: -You forgot? ...heh...have I mentioned I love you?

Zoey: aw, Mike...you _know_ you already-

Cameron: Guys?

Zoey: -uh- Well maybe not_ neat_- but it'd still be...interesting, right?

Mike: If you consider waking up one day holding a crowbar and owing some guy named Rico eighty dollars -then finding your picture in the paper for mastering the triple-helix handspring jump _interesting_.- then yeah, -it's extremely interesting.

Cameron: What's your favourite day, Mike?

Mike: Don't really remember most holidays...I'd say whatever day I get completely to myself.


	6. Nevermine'd

Last time on Total Drama Revenge of the ForeverMine:

Friendships were forged, Bro-liances were born- but our two tougest teammates couldn't get on the same page.

Our two most twisted TV-hosts played trick-or-trap with Scott, but in the end he managed to outsmart a certain landshark.

Mike was made out to be a con-artist, by a con-artist and there was a grudge-match between eight teenagers and a mutant moth- with explosive results.

What will happen next? Tune in for this week's episode of Total. Drama. Revenge of the ForeverMine!

(This episode was brought to you by the good people of VOOM and Fresco Cola)

* * *

><p>acelaces: Well I've just finished the latest chapter of Total Drama Revenge of the ForeverMine- now this one's pretty long, but you'll have to read it to find out who dies at the end!<p>

Mike: You're actually gonna kill someone off?

acelaces: Yep!

Brick: Who are you going to kill?

Cameron: And why?

acelaces: Lightning, and because I can.

Lightning: Sha-what?

acelaces: I'm just kidding- you'll have to read and find out.

Anne Maria: That's like a thousand words

Cameron: Forty-one thousand thousand, eight hundred and forty-six to be exact!

acelaces: Yep, I'll be back with my reading glasses!

*acelaces exits, Jo immediately starts rummaging through the closet*

Zoey: What are you doing, Jo?

Jo: Finding that notebook of hers- if she had the nerve to kill me off I've got some adjustments to make. Aha!

*Jo bandishes a pink notebook* got it!

Cameron: And here's an etymological encyclopedia!

*crickets chirp*

Scott: Let me see that...*takes notebook* what's with all the sketches of tunnels?

Zoey: Hey, there's one of you, Scott! ...why are you in Chris' hottub?

Scott: Uh, how should I know- *leans on broomstick to flick off lightswitch

Mike: what was that?

*broom falls and door slams shut*

*Cameron climbs up a shelf to reach for encyclopedia- falls backwards into door*

Jo: It's locked shut. Great goin, Stringbean.

*Lightning bangs head on door* this door is like its made o solid wood or somethin!

Scott: I found a paperclip.

Jo: Excellent, we can pick the lock. I'll slide this card through the door slit and Brickhouse can manipulate the wire.

Brick: Sure *starts trying the tines while Jo swipes the card through*

Lightning: Ahh!

Brick: What's wrong?

Jo: Don't you drop that clip.

Brick: I have to. *runs over to back of closet* What's wrong?

Lightnin: Bugs! Bugs all over the Lightnin!

Jo: Agh! Dammit- papercut!

Brick: I'm sorry- we can still get out!

Jo: No we can't. *points at lock with broken paperclip stuck in it*

Lightning: NO!

*Scott slips out through the other door* Losers...

* * *

><p>JO<p>

Yesterday was good. I'd got everybody out of their one-day slump and even though we didn't get out I single-handedly took care of our unwanted guest and figured out that those barrels could be put to use after all. I took a look around at all the oil barrels in the room-

You mean cave. Dammit, Jo, you're acclimatising to this place already!

I could try to trigger another explosion, a _big _one this time- and blast open the sealed off cave exit. I got up and knocked one of the barrels to see if it was full. The sound it made echoed round the cave and shook a few shotput sized rocks from the ceiling. Hey, it was more than half full!

On second thought, after yesterday's quake another shock like that might bring the roof down. It wouldn't be a great escape if only fifty percent of the team made it out..

_The team? Oh man, Brickhouse's pull-together attitude is starting to rub off on you. Watch out, Jo._

Last night I knew what he was about- trying to make me look like some kind of reckless pyro who almost got everybody killed when I had the whole situation completely under control.

And it wasn't like I had time to set up a safety net- it was do or die, and I knew he was just trying to get the others on his side- he didn't want to be ,my teammate, he wanted to be Captain, he'd called himself my friend, but last I checked friends don't usurp their friends.

_Exactly. You know what he's after, anyways._

On the other hand- if he was trying to break my leadership, why was he waiting so long before telling everyone about my hockey team drug bust?

And why'd he look so upset when I said it

**I'm not your friend.**

I shook my head and began my morning workout routine. Starting with a couple dozen crunches. I looked up at the ceiling, there were cracks everywhere.

Maybe there was a chance he didn't side with Spence like the rest of my so called teammates.

Time for jumping jacks. A hundred ought to do it. The cave was empty, my fault for sleeping in. I don't know what happened. I made a point of being up at the crack of dawn every day. But last night had messed with my head and thrown my compass off kilter. I remembered the way he looked at me last night, when I'd almost told him about my...affection. Then I remembered how he looked when I said what I said. His shoulders, which were usually held firm with that military boy pride he always had- his shoulders just sunk. And he'd held my stare for what felt like ages, but what was probably about eight point five milliseconds by my watch. But it didn't feel like a staring contest, I always win those. This time it was like I'd lost. Like I lost bad.

Were his eyes wet before they turned dark?

_Quit it, Jo. Wondering isn't helping you train. It's not helping you get out. Captain cadet isn't suddenly going to want to play sweethearts with the girl who can't pose pretty in a dress, but can out-run out-throw and out-rank him. You're just his rival, an obstacle like any other in an outdoor drill, but an obstacle to his leadership. Remember lesson number one: The track that starts with hope ends with disapointment._

But...maybe I was off track before, maybe he did want to be my friend.

Ouch, my wrist! Maybe I shouldn't have attempted one-handed push-ups on my right hand. I tried to go on but it was hurting, bad. I think it'd actually got worse 'stead of better after time with the sling off. If Brickhouse was telling the truth about that, then maybe...

Alright. No more maybe. If I'd missed the mark on something I'd need to make up for it. I'd find another way to get us all out of here. I'd show the rest of them I wasn't all threats, manipulation and cleverly constructed nicknames. I'd show them I could perform. I'd do whatever it took, and I'd do it all without risking getting everybody else disqualified!

_You mean __**killed**__._

I mean killed!

* * *

><p>Back at Chris' cabin the sun was shining, the ice was melting and that one tree with the tusks, for some reason was...growling. The sunlight that filtered into the living room fell onto the onyx velour tipped eyelashes of Blaineley O'Halloran which far from waking up only caused her to furrow her brow slightly and roll over.<p>

Instead it was the Blainerific ringtone of her mobile that woke the hostess up with a start. She snatched it up and put her hand over the speaker to avoid waking up a sleeping Chris.

A sleeping Chris?

Oh God, thought Blaineley as she got up, manoeuvering carefully so his arm slung over the arm of the sofa from where it had been resting around her shoulder. Avoiding the distracting sight of Chris McLean's slumber-toussled jet black hair in the sunlight and the line of his devil-may-care stubbled chin, she checked the caller ID, even though she was already 90% sure of who it was.

"Yes?" she whispered harshly into the receiver after flipping it open.

She was answered by a very low voice.

"When you kissed McLean the other day, I thought at first you were just being careless, and of course, I sulked. But then I thought maybe it was just your twisted desire to mess with him even more than we've planned, and for a moment I felt profoundly..._proud_."

"But now I'm starting to think you've actually started to fancy him, which means of course, you're gambling my trust, my time and..."

He paused for emphasis and Blaineley rolled her eyes as if to say Get on with it old man, even though she was secretly glad he couldn't see her defiant expression, before realising he probably could see her and freezing still.

"...my money." he finished finally.

When only her silence responded he laughed coldly.

"I take it the gravity of this isn't lost on you. You're a smart girl. You understand the plan, don't you?"

Of course Blaineley knew the plan of which he spoke. It was the flipside of his promise to get her Chris' show.

**Phase one**

Once she'd given him the idea McLean'd agree to cohost if she poneyed up the equipment and finances all compliments of Mr. S, which she figured must have been chump change for the multimillionaire.

**Phase two**

Gain her cohost's trust by any means neccessary, attempt to get an inside influence in the mine. Initially the plan to do this had involved coercing interns and penetrating the mine itself, but when Scott had so willingly walked into their sights she decided to harness his influence. Preferring the opportunity as it didn't involve tracking through dirty tunnels in heels.

**Phase three**

On the day of the final episode shooting (which involved her and the aforementioned cohost dropping in on the eight losers via helicopter to record their reactions to the revelation that not only were they trapped on purpose under false pretences, but also under the constant eye of the entire global viewing audience) when the sun is at its highest in the sky and the helicopter is directly above the mine, push a certain Chris McLean off, and watch him take the long way down.

They would use the loophole in the contract to their advantage, even though shooting was technically done with Clause 33 was still valid, meaning if one cohost's got too many broken bones to hold a mic, the other gets complete control. They could reshoot all the intros, all the commentary without McLean and for once this Blonde haired star would be able to shine in her rightful place, beneath a single spotlight.

Today was the sixth and final day of shooting.

"You know how showbiz works. We all have a role to play, and you've already learned yours." said the voice, half reassuring, half threatening.

"Now it's just as simple as one, two, three, _action_."

There was a click as he hung up.

Across the room Chris rolled over in sleep and grunted something about Goodminton.

Today was the day. Blaineley thought as she walked to the kitchen. She wasn't even up in the air yet and she was already in vertigo.

Mike was sitting up a rock in the middle of the lake. He'd already began to feel the first pangs of hunger even though it was just mid-morning, although it wasn't like you'd be able to tell in this dimly lit underground air-pocket.

"I'm almost starting to miss breakfast chef style" mused Mike.

Anne Maria was trying to set up a bonfire 'like the ones we used to light up back on the shore' with an empty barrel and some of the old newspapers. It would bring some light to the place, but it was only going to make it hotter than it already was, and it was getting pretty hot.

"If you're willing to risk another mystery meal á la Hatchet, things must really be bad." said Zoey wading over to Mike's rock and giving an emphatic look.

"Can I see one of those newspapers, Anne Maria?"

"Knock yourself out." she said, tossing him one while dumping another few into the barrel.

* * *

><p>ANNE MARIA<p>

I guess the little book nerd must've been spazzin out over the lack o readin material all this time, an now he can read it cause I'm settin up a blaze.

Anne Maria you are just too good for words. Ugh. I'm startin to sound like that meat-crazy jock with the earrin, 'the Lightnin'.

The sooner we get outta here the sooner I'm getting away from these weirdos.

Speakin o which, Zoey was hangin out with that mystery creep again, she was skippin stones with him earlier and now this.

Across the cave Zoey had swum under a large arched rock under which there was a steady stream of water that dripped from a crack in the cave ceiling that hadn't been there yesterday. Mike sat up watching her bite her lip uncertainly before disappearing behind the veil of water and emerging with a smile and soaked hair.

"It's not so bad, actually," she said as Mike clambered into the water and swam over to where she was,

"...kinda like a waterfall if you squint your eyes"

"What, to picture it better?" he asked quickly dunking his head beneath the waterfall.

"Or so you don't get water in your eyes" she said.

"Heh, of course" said Mike,"I knew that,"

looking away and mouthing 'ow', his eyes smarting.

* * *

><p>BRICK<p>

It was hot today. Even at seven a.m when I got up, did 100 pushups :fifty left-handed and fifty right-handed (to make sure I'm not right-biased) and came down to do a few laps. The water wasn't warm, but it wasn't sharp and cold as usual, so it didn't exactly help snap me out of thoughts about last night. Jo wasn't even awake when I got up, or maybe she was, cause she was sleeping on her side and wasn't facing me(instead of on her back with her arm crooked over her eyes like she usually did, not that I made a habit of checking. While I did backstroke I noticed a sizeable crack in the roof of the cave. Last night's explosion was too much for the structure to handle. We'd need to find fortress soon, and food. For now, everyone else seemed okay, I guess me and Jo were the only ones who took things seriously.

In war you need to move as a unit and watch eachother's backs, or you're headed for defeat. In a race when someone takes a fall, it won't stop you making the win. Its as simple as that- Uh- except in that Tour de France...then everyone goes down with you! Or horse racing, except…wait don't they just restart? Uh...you get the idea.

* * *

><p>Cameron sat in the shallow end of the lake, looking at the newspapers with keen concentration, or it could have been because his glasses were off. Every few seconds a drop of water would land on his head and he'd look at the ceiling in annoyance before shifting around, only for it to happen again.<p>

It was seriously a hindrance to his focus, but then again maybe if he'd been wearing his glasses he'd have noticed by now it was just the distant splash of Brick's strokes as he went back and forth across the lake.

Anne Maria tried shining a piece of slate to see if she could check her reflection.

Mike sat under the arch of rock showing Zoey how to 'skip some serious stone' after a while they lay back and he spoke.

"You know...if someone had told me before I auditioned- that I'd end up trapped in an abandoned mine for(basically)ever," he opened his eyes and looked at the bleak ceiling,

"I'd have run the other way."

Zoey sat up and said without meeting his eyes,

"And what if afterwards say they happened to mention...you know...us?" she looked at him from under her bangs.

"What'd you say?"

"Hmm. she heard him say, climbing to the top of the arch and suddenly appearing over the edge, hanging by his knees.

He smiled all coy,

"Where do I sign up?"

* * *

><p>MIKE<p>

She smiled back for a moment and for one thrilling perfect second I thought she was going to kiss me again, but then I realised my shirt was falling down and I had to stop to pull it back up, quick.

"So...it's true about the shirt thing? How it makes you...you know...switch?" she said softly, part because she didn't want anybody else to hear and part because I think she felt sorry for me.

I nodded but she still looked unsure about something.

"So how'd..."

This was it. Exactly what I'd avoided talking about for so long, that my doctor had told me not to talk about (tune out the negative stimulus- find your happy place and concentrate on it, he'd say, and my happy place happened to be the shore of lake MicMac) , the stuff that Cameron was urging me more and more to tell someone.

I changed the subject. I couldn't do it now.

"Hey, Zoey if this is a waterfall, 's that the beach?" I said, getting up and pointing at the shore, which looked far away from up here.

I helped Zoey up and she looked around,

"Yeah..there's the sand-"

"Check" I said, checking off an imaginary clipboard.

"And the salty sea breeze'' she said holding her finger out in front of her and then pretending to taste the tip.

"_Double_ check" Then I gestured towards Brick, who was mid-air after diving off the track.

"Hey, Zoey...Seagulls: check!"

Unfortunately on hearing this Brick faced front with feet together at attention, which wasn't the best thing to do while in freefall he discovered as he smacked against the water below.

"Oops-sorry, Brick!" called Zoey.

"Not a problem, Miss!" replied Brick with a nod, though he seemed to be talking to the rock on the opposite shore.

"What are you doing?" asked Mike, as Zoey had lay back on the stone arch.

"Looking at the clouds." answered Zoey, staring up at the ceiling.

"Girl has gone crazy." said Lightning, pausing in the middle of what had seemed to be an intense imaginary football game.

"Nobody's gone crazy." said Brick before offering Mike in a lower tone,

"But it does look like cabin fever's started to set in."

"Oh, you mean those clouds?" said Mike, pointing upwards and laying close to Zoey.

"Uh, guys...there aren't any-" started Cameron looking perplexed.

"They know dat," said Anne Maria rolling her eyes,

" it's just pretend. Either that or they got into some more whiskey." She arched an eyebrow before adding,

"_Did_ you get into more o dat whiskey? If you did, divvy it up, you can't just leave the rest of us trapped in here sober."

"Actual, moving clouds, remember that?" said Zoey, closing her eyes. Mike kept looking at her.

"Yeah...this beach is perfect"

"Your beach is borin me to tears ova here." interrupted Anne Maria.

"It's not boring!" said Mike defensively.

"Sure it is," she said plainly, " I mean, it's just a bunch of nobodys and clouds," she said, gesturing towards the room at large.

"But invite a decent crowd maybe a little music," she started indicating the different corners of the cavern and talking fast, "some subwoofers, a DJ and a minibar right over there (usually if there's two you get everything for cheap) but we won't have any room for another unless SOMEBODY MOVES THEIR BIG HEAD OUTTA THE WAY" she ended nearly shouting at Cameron who was apparently blocking some prime minibar real estate.

There was a short silence and Anne Maria blinked in surprise,

"What just happened?"

"You just had a notional eruption!" replied Cameron pointing his index.

"Ain't that a _guy thing_?" she answered skeptically

"What? You mean-" started Cameron but Zoey offered an answer before the despectaled innocent's mind could be deflowered.

"A creative outburst..sorta" said Zoey.

"Don't tell me this stuff's contagious." said Anne Maria backing away.

"Oh, it is, right Zoey?" said Mike, "In fact..." he held out both his open palms, then got up and waved them in front of him.

"It's airborne!" he shouted dramatically –and a folded newspaper crane appeared in the air.

"Cool!" said Cameron.

"You wanna know how I did it? See, it's tough with short sleeves but-" he faltered when he noticed Zoey had missed it, she had been asking Anne Maria something about seaside amusement parks.

"Oh, sorry Mike- could you do it again?"

"Uh-" he said, indicating the paper bird that had landed in the water and which had just sunk like the Titanic. "-guess not." he finished.

Anne Maria shrugged and went on.

"Zo?" he said too quietly for her to hear.

"Well anyways the joint is packed and everything's hot, even the water after bein under the heat all day, oh yeah the sun's hot too, and everyone'd get serious burn if they weren't already tanned, which they are, cause everyone in the crowd is a hottie, and the music is rockin and your mojo is peakin and you're just pickin up the hottest guys like crazy tonight, it's like you're on FIRE!"

"I think this beach is getting a little too..um...hot." said Cameron to Mike.

"Want to go somewhere cooler?" offered Cameron. When Mike nodded they headed off down a side tunnel.

"Geez, was he tryina put the moves on you or what?" said Anne Maria pointing her thumb at Mike as he left. "Good thing I swooped in in time or he'd have got you fallin for his Mike act, amirite?"

she elbowed Zoey who looked distracted,

"Uh, yeah...good thing I didnt..."

* * *

><p>Over at Chris' cabin both host and hostess were kicking back in the hot tub, which Chris had ordered an intern to fill with ice cubes. The only thing worth escaping for them was the heat.<p>

"This is just like the time I played the SeaCaptain's daughter in the sinking scene of Olympic..." said Blaineley, tracing the sugared rim of her Lemon Cola drink.

"You mean, minus the fake tears and bad English accent?" said Chris, "pretty much, yeah."

"I...uh, like you better as a washed up hostess than a washed up actress anyways."

"Really?" said Blaineley, blinking in surprise. He didn't say anything but he nodded yes and sunk deeper into the water.

She looked at him a moment, then kicked some of the chilled water at him.

"Who's washed up now, McLean?"

"Hey- you almost got me in the eyes!" said Chris, ducking.

"Which is quite the accomplishment seeing as they're such small targets." said Blaineley, moving in close and squinting.

"Hey, these babies made the cover of Starstruck magazine,the _Reel Hotties edition_." said Chris, framing his face with his hands.

"Yeah, I know, you framed it up in the living room." said Blaineley, rolling her eyes and adding,

"God, you love yourself."

"Wouldn't you?" he answered, leaning towards her.

Neither or them spoke.

"Did either of you see my tuna casserole?"

Chef's voice interrupted the quietude and they pulled apart, "Man I swear I left the dang thing on the-" he stopped when he opened the deck door, he knew somethin was goin on.

"Uh...nope" said Chris, running his fingers through his hair.

"Can't say I have." stated Blaineley, sipping her cola.

Chef was unimpressed.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure I made one since somebody forgot to switch off the gas for the oven." he looked at Blaineley.

"It was a mistake." said Blaineley.

"I lost my eyebrow!" shouted Chef pointing at his forehead.

"It's right there!" she scoffed.

"Well it grew back!" he finished.

"Anyhow what I'm sayin is we've got a food thief on our hands."

"No we don't, _Farmboy_'s stuck in that cave now Fang's on the loose." said Blaineley, checking her nails to make her apathy perfectly clear, that was until Chris brushed his ankle against her leg and she shot him a warning glance, to which he returned an obnoxious grin.

"Then it's gotta be the shark." said Chef, clenching his fists.

"Wha-Why would he be eating our stuff if he's got a lake full of mutant fish to eat." said Chris, more than a little annoyed already at Chef's 'totally like, interrupting the Blaineley moment I had goin there.'

"I dunno, but if there's one thing this miserable life's taught me," said Chef, "it's never to trust a shark." he said gravely, now scanning the edge of the woods.

"What? You're crazy." said Chris.

"Crazy?" asked Chef, "Or wise?" he said, tapping his head before heading back inside and shutting the door.

"Yeah, my money's on _crazy_." said Chris, looking over at Blaineley.

"Where are we?"asked Mike, being led down a winding tunnel by Cameron who seemed to be counting his steps.

"Seven to the right, seventeen straight forward...watch out there's a stalagmite three steps in front of you."

Mike sidestepped the spike and was about to ask again before he saw the answer. They were in a small downward-sloping cave that seemed to contain many small glassy pools of water. The pools were deep blue and reflected several specks of blue-ish light. and Mike froze for a second because they looked so much like small windows to a starry sky. The image of a way out was always in the back of their minds. He stood blinking in a trance and Cameron had to point out that the specks of light were mutant bioluminescent insects that had long settled in this cooler cave in the lower mine. For a moment the two of them watched them circle and drift near to the ceiling among the stalactites.

* * *

><p>CAMERON<p>

"I found this place the other day when I was looking for you." I said, sitting down on a rock and observing an interesting specimen of lichen growing around the tiny pool.

"How far down does this mine go?" he asked, sitting down.

"About four thousand feet." I said after a moment's reflection. Mike blinked in surprise.

"Cameron buddy, what's it like to know everything?" he asked in mock awe.

"Ha ha. It's actually just a rough estimation based on-" I caught myself before I explained more fully. I was beginning to realise some of the things I found fascinating were confusing at best to my new friends.

There were more important things to discuss.

"Mike..." I started, "What happened just now-"

"-Yeah," he said, "I know, I know paper cranes are so lame...should've done a swan- girls like swans, -of course!" he hit his head against a stalagmite,"Ugh so obvious!"

"No, I mean if you want to hold Zoey-"

"Yeah I know!" interrupted Mike, "I just wish there weren't so many people around, this whole desperate survival thing is _murdering_ the mood!"

"Mike!" I said a little too loud. He blinked at me.

"As I was saying, if you want to hold Zoey's _attention_, you're going to need to tell her everything."

"You mean, how I got my MPD?" he said, backing up.

I nodded.

"Aw but Cam, you don't know what it's like, you're not...I dunno, you're not like me." he said, struggling with the words.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well...you're...I dunno.. brave?" he said.

"Brave?" I repeated it out loud, it was definitely not something I was used to being called. Intelligent, of course. Dilligent, many times, every synonym for 'puny', yes.

But _brave_, never. Inwardly I smiled, he thought I was cool.

"You know, even when you're up against something bigger than you...you know, tougher, stonger- less small-"

"I get it" I stated.

"- you just suck it up and face it, and even if you get beat up you just come out stronger for it."

"I ..." I started to deny his claim before I remembered how much I'd conquered over the last 13 days. "...suppose you're right"

"See, that's not me- I'm not like that, as long as I can remember I've been hiding from stuff. Every time something scary or frustrating or tough came my way I headed for the hills-not the real hills, you know- the hills inside my head!" he said, pointing.

"Uh...right" I said, though I wasn't sure what he was leading to.

"Every time something bad came my way -instead of standing up and fighting it, my wussy subconscious just took the exit door and let somebody else operate the controls until I was ready to come out from under my invisibility cloak." he riffled his fingers through the air to indicate ephemereality.

"Invisibility cloak?" I asked, "You mean you read-"

"Yep. You?" he replied.

"I've got the celtic and the latin editions!"

"Look," he stated getting back on track, "I just mean, maybe I'm just not made of the same stuff as a normal guy. Guy stuff- I'm not fast like Lightning or strong like Brick , even Scott's got that whole hard working thing- and I'm just this...I dunno big milky wimpshake." he finished, kicking a pebble across the cave.

I didn't know what to say, but something told me he wasn't finished yet. For a while we sat silently. There was water running inside the walls, you could hear it trickling from above. Maybe we were under the lake. There was no real way to know. Finally, I heard his voice, though he was facing the dark edge of the cave.

"Wanna know the worst part about my MPD? It's knowing that the same personalities that make people pick on you, call you a freak and beat you up, are the only friends you've got at the end of the day." He swung around to face me, but his eyes were shut tight, like he was thinking hard.

He went on,

"And as much as you hate them swarming in your brain and taking over, they're also the ones who protect you, so you don't have to face the world on your own, you can just float away and they'll take care of it. it kind of makes you feel less lonely when you're ...on your own."

Suddenly I realised what he was doing, he was backing out of his promise, he was giving up.

"Wait, Mike, if you face everything on your own you won't need to have your alternates anymoe, and even if it means reliving what happened- it'll be worth it when you learn to control it!" I said, gripping the pullstrings of my hoodie.

"I'm just not sure if I'll be able to give that up. When I'm On my own, who knows if I can deal. Cameron..." he looked me in the eyes, he was serious. I could tell because Mike had a way of making everything seem okay even if it really wasn't. I looked back at him.

"Maybe the stuff I'm made of doesn't come out stronger, maybe it just shatters into smaller and smaller pieces." His voice wavered briefly. I reached my hand out to his shoulder.

"...maybe I don't want to risk it." he finished. Before I could stop him he'd pulled away and left.

"Mike!" I called after him, but it was no use.

* * *

><p>Chris walked into the kitchen where Chef was kneeling industriously with a toolbox by his side. He looked up when the Chris opened the fridge.<p>

"Gettin more drinks for you and your _girlfriend_?" asked Chef.

"No." retorted Chris. "I'm getting ice." and he pointedly scooped a few cubes into the icebucket.

"Dustin for shark fin-prints?" asked Chris in the same teasing tone.

"Well..." said Chef, holding up the brush and chalk. "Yeah, I was."

He got up.

"Look, man. I need to know you're ready to do what we gotta do today."

"Psh, course I am." said Chris, avoiding his gaze.

"After bossman producer-guy gets here we're gonna need to shove Blaineley off of the helicopter halfway through the intro so we get to do a reshoot and the closest she'll be to signin autographs is signin hospital bills. Now obviously gettin her to trust you was the easy part, I need to know you're up to breakin it when the time comes." said Chef, laying a hand on his shoulder.

"I said I was, alright?" said Chris, shirking him off, "_Man_."

"Alright." said Chef, getting up and taking something out of his tool kit. It was his tranquilizer gun, but the red tranq darts had been replaced with shark poison.

"Time to get rid of that big-toothed problem once and for all." said Chef.

"Hey, you can't go all killy on Fang, he's the only thing keeping the pitt-sniffer out of my- I mean, our contract." said Chris.

"Man, that little punk ain't gonna show up outside anyways, an I bet that shark is out there right now," said Chef, "laughin at us." He took a step forwards but Chris stood between him and the door.

To anyone else this kind of standoff would seem crazy, seeing as a man Chef's size could have crumpled Chris up like one of the sheets of cheesecloth he used to make his famous custard tarts.

But Chef knew that look Chris was giving him. It was like he was holding an invisible lighter to his paycheck. This was the part where he slump off, cursing under his breath. Goddamn job. Goddamn McLean. Goddamn sharks. Not this time.

"And how bout if you let me make that shark disappear, I make...these disappear." he whipped out some polaroids and held them in plain sight. Chris'eyes widened when he realised Chef had got hard proof of his night with Blaineley. Ouch. That wasn't going to be good for the rep, the McLean name wasn't supposed to get mixed up in all that Blaineley-brand celebrity trash exposees, musical talent searches and...entertainment journalism. Pure high-octane, adrenaline-pumping, drama-rific gameshow entertainment only. Not to mention Blaineley's ratings were probably about to drop faster than she could plummet out of a helicopter.

Just thinking about it gave Chris a wicked case of the chills, or maybe it was the thought of a couple million dollars of cold hard cash landing in his bank. The final push meant more of that for him, and keeping Scott away meant even more.

"I've got copies." said Chef dangerously.

"Whatever floats your boat, my dear Chef." said Chris with defiance. And he walked back to the deck, ice in hand adding, "Oh, and do something about lunch, would ya? Blaineley hates your tuna casserole."

If Chris'd looked back he'd have caught a glare so icy he wouldn't have needed the bucket.

* * *

><p>MIKE<p>

"Are you lost?" came a voice somewhere to the left of him in the darkness. It was Scott.

"Or just lookin for somethin?" he appeared, watching me.

I heard myself reply

"I...guess I'm lost..."

"What's the matter?" he asked with concern. "You can tell me anything." I felt like walking away but he held me there with that staring, and every time I took a step he did too.

"Well...me and Zoey-" I started,

"Ah yeah, I couldn't help but hear what she was sayin to Anne Maria back there." he said, picking the dirt from under his fingernails.

"What, did she say anything about me?" I asked, unable to hide the panic in my voice.

"Not much, but neither of em trust you," suddenly he looked up at me, "ever since you told her about your MPD."

For a moment I actually felt my heart stop.

"Oh, was I not supposed to know?" he said, putting his hand to his mouth. "Well... she told Anne Maria and you know how _she_ is-"

"She told?" I asked,"But-"

"I'm sure she didn't wanna rat you out, it's probably just because she's so ...freaked out." He shook his hands around in the air.

"Freaked out?" I asked, and it was getting harder and harder to keep the panic out of my voice, it felt like I was choking.

"Well I mean come on, you just out-and-out told her you're insane in the membrane, what'd you expect?"

"I dunno..." I said. What did I expect? Zoey didn't seem so upset the other day, but then why'd she keep asking me questions about it?

"I just..."

"-Don't worry about it, it's not like it's your fault you've got a few extra roommates up there, you were born with it, right?" he asked, glancing at me.

"Actually it just started when I was little..."

"Really?" he said with surprise, "What'd you do?"

It was funny how he made it feel like it was my fault, but I guess it kinda was.

"Well, it started with this teacher at the performing arts school back home- went there for a summer training course and she-"

"Wait," he interrupted, "what was her name?"

"Well, she called herself Madame Vorzana."

"Pavlena Vorzana?...Tall gypsy lady, bald head, big earings,white silk-"

"-gloves, yeah! You know about her?" I asked.

"Know about her? She's my godmother." he said, with raised eyebrows.

"Yeah, she used to read tea leaves on the other side of Pristine Estates."

He looked at me all surprised and I knew what he was gonna ask.

"Which is the name of the Park n' Stay trailer park."

"Oh." he said.

"She didn't stick around for long- ever since that reality show scam she's been a bigshot acting coach- I think she's somewhere in Paris." I started walking off, (mostly to test how badly I had him.)

"Wait...tea leaves?" He nearly came running behind me. I smiled -still not facing him.

"Are you sure you, you know- know her?" he asked.

"Recognize this?" I said, whipping out the heavy gold pendant that Blaineley had got from the lady herself, via some serious over-the-phone blackmail. Seriously, it was a verbal bloodbath-even I was a little disgusted watching it, and I've eaten fish outta Backwater Creek.

"That's hers!" he said, all wide-eyed. "She always wore it...said it was some kind of...heirloom."

"Well she said I was some kinda heir." I said. "And I say we're dealing with the same chick." I dropped it in his hand, and he kept lookin at it.

"So you said you don't remember exactly when you went all loopy?" I asked.

"Y-...Yeah." he answered.

"Well, you want the good news or the bad news?" I asked, lookin at him face to face.

"Good- no no wait, bad...uh, is there a _moderate _news?" he asked, scratching his head.

"The bad news is: you've been hypnotized."

"Hypnotized?" he asked.

"Yup. Messing with people's minds was her specialty."

At least that's what Chick Mclean told me. What a coincidence- hey... maybe we _are_ related.

"I figure she used this to hypnotize you into acting the part, trouble is she never snapped you out- so let's say that maybe every time you heard the trigger word-"

"I got another alternate!" he finished hitting his palm to his head with his eyes wide open.

"- Wait, so it could happen again?- What's the word?" he asked, grabbing me by the shoulders and looking at me real desperate.

"It's probably somethin rare. Something weird... Somethin she's got locked up somewhere in her twisted mind." I said, peeling some rust off the tip of my pickaxe.

"Oh man, no way no way no way!" he said, running around and around in a circle like some kind of spazz.

"The good news is, I gave her her startup money after my first lemonade stand so...she owes me a favour." I said, cracking my knuckles.

"You mean you can get her to un-hypnotize me?" he asked, stopping to stare at me.

"Sure." I said, "Just one phonecall and that head of yours will be cleaned out faster'n you can say drillbit."

"Yes! Oh man, you have no idea how much I've wanted to be- just, you know, normal- finally! I don't even know if there's a way to make it up to you-" at this point he was smiling like an idiot and hugging me round the ankles. I resisted the urge to try to fix his head problem- with my _foot_.

"You know, now that you mention it...there just might be one way." I said.

"Sure, whatever, anything!" he said, hopping up.

"I found Anne Maria's tin o' tint just lying around and I'm pretty sure she wants it back. Just don't tell her it was from me."

"How come?" he asked. I had to think quick-

"Uh...Cause I've got the hotts for her or.. whatever- and you know, chicks hate it when you're too...eager"

"They do?" he asked, blinking.

"Uhuh." I said. I wanted to get away before he asked anymore questions. I hated talking anyways, Never liked it, it was like work, and I always made a point of getting all the pay without none of the work. The thing about my first lemonade stand- I didn't need to make a single jug of lemonade- just guilted those suckers into paying me, played the poor mom-less dummy. Worked every time.

"Oh- and don't go wandering off again, wouldn't want you to step into some stray foot-traps." I said, heading off in the opposite direction.

"Heh- will do, and thanks again!" he said, waving and smiling like the doofus he was.

* * *

><p>CAMERON<p>

I wandered around in a circle following footsteps I thought were Mike's. He usually walked in long strides, but the steps I heard were low and shuffling. I supposed he was still upset. I was surpised to see that it was in fact Scott who'd been walking in the dark.

"Hey buddy, how's it going?" he asked me.

I didn't quite know what to say after how things had gone with Mike,

"...I'm-"

"Watch out!" he said suddenly, putting out his hand to stop me. I looked down; it was just a piece of string.

"Oops-" he said, "thought it was one o those electrical wires."

"No, it must be some of Zoey's- wait, did you say electrical wires?"

"Are there any other kind"

"Yes, actually-" "wait, where did you see them?"

"This place is full of em," he said, with a shrug. "just need to know where to look." and he tapped the ground with his heel.

"They probably don't work- I mean the cameras are all history." he added.

"No," I replied, "as long as they're still connected to the power supply...they should work!" I couldn't believe it, Scott had just offhandedly given me the key to helping everyone out of here and making up for trapping us in the first place.

"So ya think they're any use?" asked Scott.

"Well yes," I answered, "using the electrical current from the wires I can power up the ePhone and-"

"Cause I can help ya find some if you want." he said. He looked certain about the whole thing. I realised how close I was to saving everybody from this place, before it became a mausoleum.

I was ecstatic and I nodded feverishly.

"Anything to help out my buddy." he said.

His hand on my shoulder was cold and his grip was hard, but I didn't care. I knew we'd be getting out today!

* * *

><p>On the cliff that overlooked the lake a very nervous host and hostess, along with a very ticked off Chef stood watching as a silently whirring blackbird helicopter hovered above them.<p>

Suddenly it came to a halt on the ground. The blades slowed to stop and there was quiet.

_click_

The door of the helicopter opened and a man stepped out. For the most part he was straight-to-business. Clean-shaven, tall and slender in a grey pinstriped suit with a neat dark brown tie. If you had happened to miss the large, steel-toed brown leather cowboy boots and and hat, he would have come across as the average CEO of a fortune 500 company.

"Mr. R ! Hey, welcome to Camp Wawanakwa-" said Chris grandly waving towards the landscape, "I guess you're probably thirsty after your flight so I had Chef", he snapped his fingers "get you a glass of-"

"Take me to your control room." he commanded.

"Uh- okay..." said a taken aback Chris, holding the lemonade Chef had handed him.

"right this way sir."

And they followed his steady stride down the slope of the cliff.

* * *

><p>MIKE<p>

On the way back to the lake I ran into Cameron. He looked like he was in a good mood for some reason.

"Mike! I thought something might have happened to you." he said, running up to me.

"Something did happen to me! Something super awesome!" I said picking him up and spinning him around.

"Well what happened?" he asked dizzily. Then I heard Zoey's voice from the cavern

"Mike, is that you?" and suddenly I was the dizzy one.

"I'll explain later- just, I'm not giving up- I'm going to get rid of my MPD forever." I said putting him down and hurrying out to see Zoey.

* * *

><p>CAMERON<p>

Mike was deciding to take my advice and I'd be getting us all out of here all in one day. Everything was going perfectly.

Mr. Rohke stood, eyes set on the screens in the dark of the room. After waiting uneasily in the quiet for what seemed like three commercial breaks.

"And what's become of the kid?" he asked suddenly,

"The one who got out."

"It's taken care of." said Chris hastily, "He's scared of-"

"-The shark." he finished, "Yeah, I know. Well how about we alleviate the issue altogether,hm?" he turned to face them, pressing his fingers together.

"What, you mean..."

"Seal the cave exit." he said, pointing behind him at a screen, somehow the exact one that showed the tunnel that opened to the outside. "Permanently." he added.

"But- Fang-" said Chris before he was cut off,

"Kill the shark."

* * *

><p>Blaineley was uneasy. Chris was confused. Behind them Chef was grinning.<p>

"Your glasses," said Mike, indicating Cameron's specs, that had been thinly coated in soot since yesterday's explosion.

"How come you still haven't cleaned them off?" he asked, as Cameron quit inspecting them and put them on.

"Hey, from here you could pass for a sixties beatnik, Cam."You look like a blind guy, or one of those, you know non-blind super guys who wear them to play golf but then end up wearing them everywhere anyways, for no reason." said Zoey, talking quickly,

"Ha, yeah," said Mike, sliding nearer to where Zoey sat on the lakeside rock, before adding, "What's a beatnik?"

Cameron piped up,

"Ever since my first heroic rescue, I've been looking for something to wear in order to reflect," he said, getting up and looking at himself in the lake, " my newfound cool factor-" he said, snapping his fingers for emphasis.

Zoey stiffled some giggles and Mike asked,

"I don't think they reflect _anything_, can you even see through them?"

"My friend, in the words of biochemist and astrophysicist Isaac Assimov: who cares!" said Cameron, who took a few confident strides before tripping on a pebble and landing chin first at Lightning's feet.

"Are you blind little girl? Can't you see Lightnin's tryina teach his bro to pass?" shouted Lightning, pushing Cameron out of his way with his heel and picking up the pebble.

""Little girl?" said Cameron in surprise, wiping his soot covered specs on the sleeve of his hoodie.

"I think you're the one who's blind." said Mike, frowning at Lightning and getting on his feet to help Cameron up.

"Excuse me? Did I just hear you _ask _for a _beatdown_?" said Lightning, grabbing Mike by the collar of his shirt and and eyeing him dangerously, "cause Lightnin can _arrange_ that."

"Get away from him! Why do you have to be such a bully?" said Zoey, pushing Lightning off of him and facing the angry jock.

"Oh yeah? Why do you have to be so annoyin? Lightnin can't stand any more of your crazy talk and girly music robot-"

"Music robot?" said Cameron, raising an eyebrow.

"Girl, you better take out those headphones and start cheerin for the Lightnin, otherwise get out of Lightnin's way, cause he's bout to make a touchdown on Tall Dude's face." he ended pulling back his arm and taking aim at Mike, who tried to pull away.

"Did I say blind? That's just...an expression, you know like "your cheque is in the mail-"

"What? Lightnin already checked, is a hundred percent male- AND he ain't blind!" He suddenly dropped Mike to the floor and picked up a small stone.

"In fact, Lightnin's got 20-24/7 vision!"

"Go long, bro!" he shouted, tossing the pebble in the direction of Scott who was sitting on a rock on the other side of the cave, looking intensely bored with his chin in his hand.

The pebble joined several others strewn at the feet of Scott, who, after glowering at Lightning for a moment picked up a considerably larger rock and sent it heading for Lightning via slingshot.

It hit its mark with a thump sound that made Mike, Cameron, Zoey and Brick (who'd just finished doing laps in the lake) flinch in unison (Anne Maria who was lazing on a rock in the middle of the lake didn't bat an eyelid and continued trying to imagine herself somewhere 'sunnier and less full o' weirdos.')

"Good one bro!" said Lightning, holding a thumbs up and wincing,

"For the next one, try aimin a little closer to the goal line, and a little less close to Lightnin's face!" he pointed to a crudely drawn line he'd drawn on the floor of the cave with slate.

"Lightnin'll show you how it's done!" he said, picking up a stone and taking aim, "Sha-stand back!"

"Where's Jo?" said Mike, handing Brick his dry shirt as he came out of the water.

"She slept late," he responded,

"And my guess is she doesn't want to come down here under the -uh...the circumstances."

A moment of speechlessness passed in which Brick thought about Jo and tried not to think about Jo at the same time, with the end result of putting his shirt on backwards.

* * *

><p>BRICK<p>

Backwards

"Just completed a ten K run backwards, at full speed, uphill." she'd said with superiority, then she'd prodded my chest and added,

"beat that."

"I did my 10 kilometers backwards, full speed, uphill _through sand_." I countered, folding my arms.

"Oh yeah? Where'd you do that," she replied quickly, indicating the landscape of the island,

"Hilly beach or the sand-covered hill?" she'd said, mocking me.

Then we'd raced through the woods back to mess hall. I still remembered how I couldn't quit looking over at her instead of at the path ahead, which in retrospect was probably what led to me getting smacked in the face by a tree branch.

"Ah- darn it, that really smarts!" I said stopping. "Wait- that wasn't poison oak was it?" I said

"Uh, Captain Oblivious, poison oak is a vine, not an actual oak- …but it could be some kind of mutant tree."

"Well it itches like crazy-" I said, stopping and checking my reflection in my dog tags

"Ah, shake it off soldier-" she said shrugging and jogging in place next to me.

"it's getting worse- it's like it's on fire, the situation is definitely degenerating, Ma'am..."

"Simmer down, cadet, you're not _dying_" she said, stopping and holding my chin for a moment and looking at me closely.

Immediately my face went hot and my brain felt stupid and I just stood there and blinked at her. It was the closest we'd been back then, and I felt a pang of what I thought then had been some kind of side effect of mutant poison oak, but I knew now to be something way _way _different, something that felt way better and could hurt ten times as much.

"You're hot," she said, looking away, "but not feverish or anything- it'll probably get better in like an hour anyway."

All I could do was nod slightly, not wanting to lose the feeling of her touching me.

"It's sorta turning red but that'll wear off too" She brushed my cheek briefly before taking her hand away.

She reached into her hoodie and took out her water bottle. She never drank from it cause she said, and I quote:

_"Water's for wimps! It takes real application to run dry. I fill the bottle anyways, just use it as a weight to really amp up my morning workout."_

But what was she doing with it now?

"Here," she said, putting it against the side of my face. I shivered cause it was cold, but it did do the job, I felt myself go numb.

"That should keep the situation from degenerating anymore." she said arching an eyebrow. She started walking ahead with her hands in her pockets. Then she turned around and said,

"Meet you back at mess hall, Major Meltdown!"

For a moment I stood there holding the bottle against my face. Then I sprinted up in front of her (running backwards) and answered, grinning

"Not if I get there first."

She pushed past me and we were at it again.

That's what it felt like now, like I was going backwards, but not in that crazy fun way where you don't know where you're going but you keep at it anyways cause you don't care where- cause, you know you're with her (even though technically you're against her). This was bad backwards. I didn't know where I was going and I didn't know where she was going either. I'd tried reaching out to her and she'd slapped me in the face. It stung more than mutant poison oak.

* * *

><p>Chef stomped through the forest, ears tuned to every falling leaf, every snapping branch and the occasional giant growling Raccoon, which he took out with one blast of his tranq-gun.<p>

After a while he reached a rocky clearing where the massive body of the mutant shark stood. It was hunched over a fresh kill, wildly tearing out its entrails. Chef was splattered with blood. Something smelled good.

"Wait a minute." he said, touching the stain on his shirt and tasting his finger.

"Marinara?"

He stepped into the clearing. Clear as day Fang could be seen sitting hunched over a baking dish, scooping tuna casserole into his large toothy mouth. The sound he was making was as close to sobbing as a shark could get.

"Aw for the love o-" said Chef, putting his hand on his forehead,

"is this all because that punk still got your tooth?"

Fang nodded before bursting into salty tears.

"Look. I'll cut you a deal." said Chef finally, he couldn't stand watchin a grown man (or in this case landshark) cry. Fang looked up at him and sniffed.

"I gotta score to settle with that little creep too, so how bout I get him to leave his little cave o safe-itude and you can do whatever you want with him. That'll teach him to mess with me-" said Chef, wringing the air as if he was strangling an invisible redhead. "-I'll tell him too," he chuckled darkly, "if there's anythin left of him."

Fang's expression changed into a sharp-toothed grin.

* * *

><p>CAMERON<p>

Scott led me down the main tunnel, further than I'd gone before. The tunnel forked into three and that was where he stopped.

"This is it." said Scott, stepping hard on a spot that made a reverberating sound.

He dug his fingers between the two floorplanks and ripped it off. Under it was a metal box with screws in it which he quickly did away with using his sharktooth like a screwdriver.

He tossed the lid aside and aimed the flashlight at it. He cut across the wires with the edge of his tool.

"Knock yourself out." he said, then he walked off down one of the tunnels. I wasn't exactly an engineer, but I could navigate the tangle of wires pretty well- red went to the positive plate and black to the negative plate of the battery socket. It was actually going pretty well despite the darkness and the dust. There sure was alot of it in there- for one sickening moment I thought it was the same stuff I'd got into the other day- mold spores- but it was something else, a smell I didn't recognise. I didn't have time to wonder because right then I'd got it, everything was hooked up right and I took a deep breath before pressing the power button on the ePhone.

Nothing.

* * *

><p>MIKE<p>

Me and Zoey were just laying around listening to this one song over and over – when I noticed Cameron looked kinda down.

"Hey Cam, wanna listen to some music?" asked Zoey. She offered the mp3 player to Cameron and the sorta-silence of the cave came back when it popped out of my ear.

"I'm not supposed to," he replied, adjusting his glasses, "in fact I've hardly listened to music at all except for Kids Tunes and the Lena Lerner records my mom plays when she thinks I'm asleep."

"Oh?" said Zoey in the cutest way humanly possible (well, I thought so).

"Yeah, she says teenage music's too fast- it'll make me too excited, which could lead to an increased heart-rate and ...possibly..." he turned away and tugged at his sleeves, only mumbling the last part, which sounded alot like, "_death_."

"Not all teenage music is fast, though, right?" said Zoey, shrugging, "I mean, there's always twee-"

"Wait, did you just say dea-" I started, but Zoey went on.

"-That's okay Cameron-" she said, laying a hand on his shoulder.

"I totally get it if you don't want to hear it."

"And miss out on the opportunity to experience the authentic adolescent rebellion that is expressed in the righteous passion of its music? Not even for a million dollars!" He said with excitement, taking the mp3 player and coveting it in his hands.

I passed Zoey the left earbud and spoke,

"Heh, a million dollars, remember when that was it, you know- before it turned in to-"

"Just trying to stay alive?" said Zoey, smiling. "Yeah...well I mean, it might sound kind of dumb but- I think what really brought me here was, how much I wanted to find real friends."

"Yeah, me too! People who I could, I guess, start over with!"

"Exactly!"

"I dunno, does it ever sometimes feel like from day one there was just something...that made people stare at you like you were something gross or just look through you like you're not anything at all. That made …that made you the one people always talk _about_ and never talk _to_, or walk around you in a wide arc that just says 'don't feed the freak'"

She got me, totally and completely. I laced my fingers with hers and squeezed.

"Oh, do I ever."

"Do you ever feel like..." she started,

She was playing with her bangles again, I think she did that when she was nervous. It was hard to imagine someone being self conscious around _me_ of all people. I wasn't what you could call cool or tough, and I definitely wasn't _Mr. Smooth_. Maybe I was reading her wrong, maybe she was just uncomfortable...I was Messed-up-Mike after all. Zoey spoke and I snapped out of my thoughts.

"Like...maybe there was something wrong with you?" she said finally.

For a fraction of a second my heart skipped, I guess usually when I hear the words 'something wrong' followed by 'with you' it usually means the inevitable end of whatever short friendship I'd just screwed up. Then it hit me full force that she was talking about herself- maybe Zoey knew that feeling just as much as I did.

"Wait, what? Aw, Zoey, how could you- I mean, why would you-" I struggled for words and she looked up at me from under her bangs.

"you're okay- like, more than okay, like-"

"-Fascinating!" shouted Cameron.

"Not really the word I was looking for but-"

"No, I mean- this music! The beat, the bassline, the invigorating creshendo of-"

"-Actually, Cameron...that's the just the sound it makes while it's powering up." said Zoey.

"Oh" he said, sitting back down.

"Here, let me help you find a song," she offered, pressing some buttons. She selected a song and Cameron's eyes widened. He sat there with pupils dilated and knees pressed together.

"Doesn't get out much, does he?" said Anne Maria, pointing her thumb at him.

"Don't talk about him behind his back!" said Mike angrily.

"What? He can't even hear me- watch dis" she said, stepping in front of him and speaking,

"Ey, Cameron- where'd ya get glasses made so they're big enough to fit your head?"

I was about to tell her off but then Cameron just kept smiling and started nodding his head in time to the music, then Anne Maria gave me this look like "See, wha'd I tell ya?" and I did, I giggled before I could stop myself. Mike didn't notice, he was glaring at Anne Maria.

"Hey, leave him alone!" he said, getting up to his full height, "Why do you have to act like such a jerk?"

"Yeah you'd know alot about that, huh "Mike" said Anne Maria, meeting his glare and making exaggerated air quotes.

"What's that supposed to mean?" said Mike, he was still mad but a little confused I guess.

Anne Maria turned to me.

"Don't you think he's been _acting_ like a _jerk_, Zoey?"

Anne Maria looked from me to him. Mike looked from her to me. She looked like she just realized something. Then he looked... worried? Maybe?

"What, no, Mike's-" I started, she looked at me like she was saying ''wrong answer.''

"Uh, Could you excuse us for a minute?" said Anne Maria as she took me by the wrist and pulled me aside.

We were jammed in a dark alcove behind a boulder. The light that there was came from the bonfire she'd lit, and was reflected by her eyes.

"What the heck are you doing still talkin to him?" she whispered harshly.

"We're just-" I began,

"Hello, don't you remember what Scott said? He's a two-timin, lyin son of a-" she eyed him from across the lake and shook her fist. I covered it with my hand.

"Mike explained everything, he hasn't been acting, he...he-" I couldn't actually tell her what he told me, but I couldn't let her think he was a liar, even though he didn't tell me the whole truth...but then-

"He _what_?" she asked skeptically, hand on her hips.

"He's not ...he's just-" I trailed off. Her expression softened a bit and she rested a hand on my shoulder.

"Listen, Zo. I'm not sayin this cause I'm mad- it's just I gotta look out for you, we're-"

she was interrupted by a shout and we both looked out. Mike took a running jump into the water before slipping on the slick slate and winding up falling head over heels into the lake. Seconds later he showed up at the surface , shook his head "Heh, I'd like to see Svetlana top that." I smiled at him and he saw me and waved, blushing slightly cause I'd seen him slip. He was so off the charts adorable. Cameron was looking too but he wasn't smiling, he looked at Mike like he was trying to figure him out. Even Brick looked suspicious.

Anne Maria was glaring hard. She faced me.

"Zo, your hair may be red as a stoplight but you're green as grass if you trust this guy after he blew you off."

"But he didn't blow me off," I replied, "you're the one he-"

I stopped myself, but it was too late. I thought I saw her anger flicker to hurt for a second before it switched to full on resentment.

" So this is the thanks I get for tryina help you out." she said, narrowing her eyes.

"Ya know what, you can just forget it." she tunred her back to me and stormed off before I could say anything to fix it.

* * *

><p>ANNE MARIA<p>

"Kind of makes ya miss Chris challenges, huh?" said Scott when I was walkin past.

"Ha, yeah- that's a good one." I said, stopping. I wasn't really goin anywhere anyways. Red was pissin me off and it just seemed like the thing to do, ya know?

"Doesn't seem like those two are in too much of a hurry to get out, does it." he said, pointing his elbow at Zo, who was kicking off her shoes and getting back in the water with 'Mike.'

I sat down next to the guy, he looked pretty bored.

"Why do I waste my time tryin to clue people in if they just-"

"go on bein clueless anyways?" he said. That was it. Exactly.

" I thought she was s'posed to be inter-lectual." I said, foldin my arms.

" Yeah, so much for 'smarty-pants-ness...itude'" he said.

"I was just tryin to help her out..." I said, still watchin em. He kept tryin to touch her hand, and she was lettin him! It was so annoying, but I couldn't stop lookin.

"You wanna know what _I _think?" said Scott.

"Shoot." I said.

"I think they're not _lookin _for a way out, cause they've already _found one_." he said, eyein me seriously.

"Who...Vi- I mean, Mike?" I aksed.

"Bingo." he said, pointing finger-guns in Mike's direction.

"I knew it- no wonder he's got that smug smile on his face. And he thinks he can play us for morons." I said, getting ticked.

"You knew? Well, I'd say you're pretty smart..." he said,

"For a city chick." an he was grinnin at me.

"Well, you're not so bad yourself," I said,getting up. "- for a guy who's probably never set foot in a club -or from the looks of it, a tan booth."

He rolled his eyes.

"Hey!" I said, Lightnin just ran into me outta nowhere, lookin angry.

"Hey, girl can't you see Lightnin is tryin to get his _game on_ with his bro Scott!" shouted Lightnin.

Scott facepalmed.

"Well obviously he'd rather talk to _alll o dis_ than catch your stupid rocks." I said, poitning at the merchandise (and by merchandise, I mean the four feet o full-on hotness called yours truly)

"What?" said Lightnin, lookin me up and down, "My man Scott aint gonna fall for your crazy girly mind tricks and eyelash battin- the dude is g-"

"-oing to rip my hair out if I have to keep playing catch." said Scott real quick. He glared at the jock.

"Ha! See." I said.

"What no, come on dude!" said Lightnin, "Bros before-"

"You'd better not think of finishin dat sentence if you wanna keep your teeth." I said, shakin my fist.

"First they take Lightning's gold, then his lunch, -now you're gonna take his teeth? What's Lightnin gonna have left?!" He shouted at the ceiling.

"Oh man," I said, shakin my head, "when they were givin out brains, they really screwed you over, huh."

Scott snickered. I'd never heard the guy laugh before.

"Psssh, who needs brains when you're a hundred percent muscle!" said Lightnin, whippin off his shirt and liftin the nearest barrel over his head.

"Yeah," said Scott, "more like a hundred percent-"

"Beefcake! Tell me about it, Who knew under that preppy 'i'm lookin for a sports scholarship'- shirt there was a set of abs you could grate cheese off of!" I said, steppin closer to check out the guy.

"Uh, for the record- that ain't what I was gonna say." pointed out Scott.

"Beefcake? Where?" said Lightning, lookin around wildly.

"Right..." I said, trailing my finger from his abs up to his chest,"...here."

He looked at me confused for a second, it was like a bagel-toaster-tickin-minute before he got it, then he was all smiles.

Scott cut in, "...Yeah speaking of which, what's for _**breakfast**_?" he said the word extra loud for Lightnin to hear.

"Shhh- can't you tell the Lightnin is workin his charm over here?" he said, pushin him outta the way.

"Yeah, let the guy talk, Rusty." I said, stepping closer.

"_Rusty_?!" he said, raising his eyebrows.

That's when Lightning put his arm round my shoulder and leaned in real close, and I started burnin up- and everything felt, I dunno good again, and things went kinda fuzzy round the edges and I...I _wanted_ him.

He started talkin.

"Ya know, of all the _many_ chicks Lightnin has met, you've got the most perfect-"

Please say eyes, please say eyes- for some reason, guys never look at my eyes even though I always make sure to apply Dazz-L eyeshadow in neon aqua like in the salon mags, you know, to draw _attention_. It's always 'hot hair, baby' or 'you got one rockin body' or 'those jeans would go great with the rest of my mornin laundry.' Not even Vito'd said anything about em yet (but he didn't talk much and I guess...he had this way of lookin in em so it didn't even matter but now here I was with this guy sayin how I've got perfect-

"taste!" he yelled.

"_What_." I said.

"You picked yourself one awesome dude, if Lightnin does say so himself!"

"Ugh." I said, and I shrugged his arm offa me.

He started flexing at this point but to tell ya the truth I didn't even feel like lookin.

* * *

><p>"Guys, breakfast? Anyone?" said Scott.<p>

"Nevermind, I've _lost my appetite_." said Anne Maria, glaring behind her at Lightning who yelled,

"Well the Lightnin is STARVIN!"

"Hey yeah, what's for brunch? Is there any food left?" asked Zoey.

"Last time I got some it was too dark to see, but the day before I..think there were more- I dont really remember though- it's kind of...fuzzy" said Mike, looking at the ceiling as if he was unable to re-call.

"You mean the food?" asked Zoey.

"Um, in that case I'm not hungry." said Anne Maria.

"No- the memory." said Mike, shaking his head.

"It was just forty eight hours ago. Are you sure you can't remember?" I asked him. He wouldn't look me eye to eye. I didn't want to be quick to judge Scott right but he was one suspicious soldier.

"Absolutely.." responded Mike in a voice that didn't sound very absolute.

"What about you, Anne Maria?" I asked.

"Eh, when me and Vito were pokin around, I mighta pushed a couple cans out of the way. Can't say if they were okay to eat tho." she said, shrugging. I could tell everyone was hungry, even though they didn't seem very willing.

It was time to take action.

"Alright men, uh- and girls. We've got to head to the stock room to search for what's left of our rations. If search turns out negatory then-"

"We panic?" suggested Mike.

"Nope. Then it's time for plan B.." I said, hitting my fist into my palm. Jo never made plan Bs. But Jo wasn't here, which was fine by me, I had a situation on my hands and didn't need her every-man-for-himself attitude. It was Brick McArthur's turn to make a plan.

"Which is..?" asked Zoey.

"Simple. We improvise." I said.

"Lightnin's all for it!" said Lightning, "If 'improvise' means 'eat the little guy'" he said, lifting up Cameron by his hoodie.

"Hey!" said Mike but one look from Lightning made him reconsider. Lightning dropped Cameron, who dusted himself off.

"I may be small, but at least I'm smart enough to know third grade vocabulary." he said angrily.

"You know, you sound like Felix Jensen- the new guy on team Lightnin back home- always tryina impress us with his big words, stead of movin grass and kickin butt on the field- thought he was gonna get in easy- but you can't run away from the Truth forever!" said Lightning loudly.

"and the truth was...?" asked Anne Maria.

"What? No, girl- the Truth's the name of Lightnin's pittweiler! It was a test of stamina, and big words dude only lasted about a half an hour."

"That's just mean." said Zoey.

"Sha-yeah! Fool ran onto the freeway! Lightnin's dog coulda been killed!"

"I don't know what's more amazing, that the guy's still alive, or that you're more self-centered than you are clueless." said Mike, frowning.

"How is Lightnin selfish?! Lightnin once played a whole game on a broken ankle- after Ryan Steeple started cryin about how his leg was hurtin. That dude needed to be taught a lesson in takin one for the team." Lightning pounded his fist into his palm "Sha-learnin!"

"So...anyways, breakfast?" said Scott.

"Right. Are you sure there's food left?" I asked Anne Maria.

"Guess so." she said, checking her nails. "I- ey, what's this for?" she asked looking at the torch I'd handed her.

"There you go Miss," I said, lightning it with a piece of lit wood from the bonfire.

"You two are in charge of the expedition to the kitchen today, as Mike knows what to do and you know where the remaining stocks are." Mike was startled. He looked from Anne Maria to Zoey.

"Are you willing?" I asked, holding out a torch for him.

"Um-" he said.

"No way." said Anne Maria, crossing her arms, ""get it yourself."

Cameron was furious.

"How can you afford to be indolent at a time like this?"

"I wasn't sassin anybody, shortstuff. You're the one usin words bigger than your head." she tapped his forehead.

"Okay then, how about 'lazy'." He said.

Anne Maria sure seemed upset. My isntinct was to intervene but...I could just use her hot temperedness to make her more cooperative.

"Well, you haven't really been helping out much." I said, scratching my head.

"What the-? What about dat?" she pointed at the bonfire. Even though the heat wasn't much help I couldn't honestly call her out for laziness. And honesty is one of the four pillars of leadership. Unless you're Jo, then leadership is more of a pedestal.

"You're right. You don't have to go, me and Mike will get the stocks," I said. Then I thought of something. "-and you can stay here with Cameron, Lightning and Zoey."

She looked over at them. Zoey was holding hands with Mike. Cameron was still glowering and I'm pretty sure Lightning winked.

"Forget it, I'm goin." she said, heading for the exit tunnel.

I looked at Mike, he hesitated, but he went.

Not a bad outcome, I thought. Maybe Brick McArthur was built for leadership.

* * *

><p>ANNE MARIA<p>

We were walking down the tunnel and he was kinda behind after tripping a couple times, but I wasn't stoppin fuh dat jerk.

"Wait up," he said, catching up to me. I didn't say nothin. It was quiet a while then he talked again

"Heh...sure is dark down here..."

"I know what you're trying to pull." I told him flat out.

"Huh? What do you mean?" he said, for a sec he had this look on his face, I can't describe it- sorta like he knew I knew what he knew, you know?

"Yeah, dat's right. I know what you're hiding." I said, facing him.

"What? Oh! You mean this?" he took somethin out of his back pocket. For a second I thought it'd be a gun. It was just like that time when I got jumped takin a shortcut down an alley behind the deli. Man that was one crazy night- lost all my cash an everything, the guy even took my rings (jokes on him cause I got em for 2.50 at a mall kiosk) He even threatened me a little, thought I was gonna die. But it takes more than that to shake a chick like me.

So anyways, Mike took out this can of hairspray, _my_ hairspray, and handed it to me.

It felt full. I pressed the nozzle and orange mist came out.

"But it was empty.." I said, still couldn't beleive it.

"Must've been stuck, I guess." said Mike, shrugging.

For a split second I could've kissed the guy- before I realised what was goin on. He wasn't there yesterday to see my last can run out. He obviously had to have got this one from my supply -back in the cabin. So dat meant he really did have a way out. Man, Scott...when you're right, you're right.

"Listen, about what went down here the other day...we should just forget it ever happened, you know?" he said, lookin at me nervously.

"Forget what ever happened?" I said, frownin at him, tryin to get his angle.

Then he put his hand on my shoulder, and I felt all swoony and dizzy again. Stupid warm hands. Stupid big brown eyes and messed up smile.

* * *

><p>MIKE<p>

"Anne Maria...I don't know how to say this, and I guess since you probably already know...I-I'm different than other guys, and I guess now you're probably upset cause Vito might have had you think that I actually-" I was fidgeting but when I saw she was looking at me questioningly I tried again,

"Vito- he...uh...wanted me to tell you that he...misses you- uh...alot." I finished, feeling stupid.

Anne Maria's eyes lit up for a second, then she turned away.

"He said that? Like, for reals?" she asked.

"For reals- I mean, yes. He really liked-..likes you. Even though he's not-" I said.

She whipped around and looked up at me long and hard, It felt like she was searching me.

"Could you tell him somethin for me?" she asked.

"...sure" I said. She was silent for a moment, then she spoke.

"Ditto."

In the greater cavern Brick was marching back and forth in a straight line, deep in thought most likely about strategical plans.

"Brick, it looks like you're in a rut." commented Zoey.

"Negatory,miss. I've got everything under control without her help, it's not like I need her to _function_

or-"

"No, I mean literally you're-...in a rut" said Zoey, indicating the pebbled ground into which he was wearing a small depression.

"Oh." he said, looking down.

* * *

><p>ZOEY<p>

"I hope they're okay." I finally said aloud. Any day before that would have meant I hope Mike got his hands on some food instead of on Anne Maria- but I was worried about her too.

"You think they'll be okay?" I asked, trying not to sound as worried as I was.

"Course, Mike was a junior park ranger scout, he's good with directions." said Cameron, still fiddling with the ePhone.

"He was?" I asked.

"Yes,why, he never told you?" answered Cameron.

"I guess..there's alot of stuff I don't know about Mike..." I said, looking down.

"He wants to tell you

I know, he will...when he's ready, right?

"Uh..." he set his eyes back on his work and replied, "of course.."

* * *

><p>ANNE MARIA<p>

What was goin on? Just when I figure everything out- I mean it's obvious he's lyin about sneakin out, and he was definitely a two-faced two-timer, but why was he bein so sweet on me all of a sudden, unless he had a thing for me...but then again, what about Zoey- oh yeah, she was just flat out lying to me. For some reason I couldn't think of her doin that...but why would Scott lie about that? It felt like I couldn't trust anybody. This mine sure messed with your head.

* * *

><p>MIKE<p>

We'd got the cans, though it took alot of digging around, well, me digging and Anne Maria rolling the cans out one by one with the tip of her platform shoes. When we were done I piled them into a small crate to carry back.

We'd almost appeared out of the tunnel exit when she grabbed my wrist.

"Wait." she said, looking at me right in the eyes. Was she going to kiss me or something?- oh man, this wasn't good.

"What?" I asked.

"-...Nothing," she said, "you just got a little shmutz -" and she brushed my chin with her thumb. She stayed like that for a moment then

"C'mon, we better head back, don't want Jerky Jock to get all _ansty_." she said, heading into the cavern.

* * *

><p>"Was the mission successful?" asked Brick upon their return.<p>

"Well, I don't know if you'd call it a success-" began Mike.

"Here's what we got." said Anne Maria, tossing a can to Brick, who checked the label.

It was written in a language even Cameron didn't recognise and there were pictures of old people on the front.

There was a pause of silence as they considered it.

"I dunno, I mean is it really-" asked Zoey,

"-It can't be" said Mike.

"Hey, if it's old people puree then why are they_ smilin_?" pointed out Anne Maria.

"That guy doesn't look very happy." said Brick indicating the label.

"Is he..._crying_?" asked Zoey.

"Grandpa?" Lighting grabbed the can, staring at it.

"They told Lightnin you went on vacation to Bora Bora!"

There was a crack sound behind them as Scott had just opened one with his shark tooth. It seemed to contain a pinkish-brown mush.

"Sha-protein!" shouted Lightning before trying to use his teeth to open the can.

"You just said that coulda been your grandpa-" remarked Anne Maria.

"He never got Lightnin any decent Christmas presents anyways." said Lightning shrugging and downing the contents of Scott's can, while Scott rolled his eyes and opened Lightning's bite-mark covered one.

After heating the cans over the bonfire they'd dug in.

When everybody had finished theirs (which involved alot of eye-shutting and nose-pinching) and Lightning had eaten his and the remains of the others' he shouted.

"Where's seconds, Tall Dude?"

"There IS no more, doctor Einstein." said Anne Maria.

"Actually, Einstein wasn't a doctor-" started Cameron,

"Nobody asked you, four-eyes." said Anne Maria.

"No...more...food?" It took about three seconds for the idea to click in Lightning's head. His eyes widened and he stood up.

"What are you doin sittin around, it's a Sha-mergency!" he yelled, and with that he ran into the lake and prepared to dunk himself under.

"What are you doing?" asked Brick half amused, half confused.

"Whats it look like? The Lightnin is goin fishin!" he said angrily.

"Right,but there aren't any fish in there." said Brick.

"Sha-yeah- Lightnin's man Scott said-" but he was cut off by a stone to the head. "Ow, bro!" he said, looking at Scott.

"Whoops, I guess I still need to work on my _aim_." he said, unable to hide a sneer which Lightning interpreted as a good humoured smile.

"So what's the plan of action, Captain?" he posed to Brick.

"Captain?-" asked Brick before clearing his throat, "I mean, yes, we do need to start a search for an alternate food supply."

"Which means..." asked Zoey,

"We're going hunting." stated Brick.

"Who's we?" asked Anne Maria with narrowed eyes.

"I know I normally help with the…uh- food detail but hunting's not really my-" started Mike,

"Understood." said Brick, though he wasn't sure if it was Mike's non-violent nature or some sort of plot to sneak off.

"Scott?" he asked.

"Hunting's my specialty." said Scott, which was the truth, aside from whitling and manipulation Scott could catch anything that moved.

"If Scott's in, Lightnin's in-" said Lighting, "so don't even think about sneakin a bite before Lightnin's had at it!" he said to Scott, giving him a noogie.

"We better go up to get supplies." said Brick, leading the way.

* * *

><p>After trekking up the rocks to the track (the recent explosion-triggered rockfall had blocked off their usual shortcut.) they'd just crossed the track over the lake and into the tunnel that led to the exit cave. Suddenly Brick stopped short. There was a break in the track, a big one, where at both ends it tapered to a brittle and twisted stop.<p>

"What the-" said Brick, looking from the track, to the deep chasm below, that was apparently populated by stalagmites of varying sharpness as well as a stream that trickled down to the lake.

Mike noticing, stopped too causing Zoey to trip." Woah" she said, unsteady on her feet.

"Got you," said Mike, catching her by the waist. Pulling her a little closer he added

"I..won't let you go."

"Ey, you're holdin up the line." said Anne Maria pushing forwards, before stopping short and causing Cameron to tilt sideways, so that his knees buckled and he almost fell, if it weren't for Anne Maria, who caught his wrist.

"That was close, thanks Anne!" said Cameron, pulling himself up by her tresses.

"First of all it's Anne Maria, -get it right.

Second you'd better let go of the hair-or you're gettin a one-way ticket to the bottom of this pit." she said, pointing down.

Lightning, who was running at full speed could've caused quite the domino effect if Scott hadn't slingshotted a pebble his way, making him stop to rub his forehead and exclaim, "Dude! What was that for?"

Scott pointed at Brick who was still staring at the broken track.

"Jo." he said softly, before shaking his head and hardening his expression to resolution. He stepped back, then took a leap across the too-long-gap, landing on his feet and moving quickly as the rusty track disintegrated below him. As he ran ahead he shouted back to the rest of them, "I'll be back, stay right here!"

The echoes vibrated down the walls , and a few loose bits of ceiling fell down. When the sound reached them it was confused.

"After a nap he'll be right where?" asked Zoey.

"He needs to get a map then we'll slay a deer?" suggested Mike, with slight repulsion.

"We're not under attack so there's no need to fear!" stated Cameron.

"Nah, I heard him." said Anne Maria, "He said I'll be right back- hey nice hair."

"That doesn't make any sense." said Mike.

"Oh yeah? Well your hair ain't so perfect either." retorted Anne Maria.

"He obviously said somebody drove a cart and forgot how to steer." said Scott, pointing at the twisted tracks.

"DID SOMEBODY SAY BABY-BACK RIBS?" shouted Lightning, pushing past the others and taking a running leap across.

* * *

><p>"Jo!" I couldn't help myself yelling when I saw her. She was okay, she was alive! I ran up to her and hugged her, tight. She smelled like effort and sports-stretch cotton. Man did I miss that! It only lasted a moment though cause she pushed me off.<p>

"ah What are you doing, you're getting me all wet!" she said angrily.

"Sorry, it's just- you're alive!" I said, still grinning like an idiot.

"You bet I am!" she said, turning around.

"We're getting out of here today. I can feel it in my lats." I followed her gaze and my jaw dropped when I realised what she'd been working on.

It was a gigantic stack of carts piled almost to the ceiling, right beside a staircase-like stack of crates.

"Woah.." I said, cause I couldn't find the words.

"Sha-Skyscraper!" said Lightning, climbing into the cave from the track.

It was so impressive it took me a moment to realise what she'd done. Our only way of accessing the rest of the mine was gone.

...

"How could you do this?" I asked.

"Oh, it wasn't easy-" she said smirking, "the other day Egghead brought up the problem of stacking the carts too high to stack carts on top of em- I was up for hours just thinking about it- then it hit me, stack the crates high enough and boom- it's almost high enough." she said pointing at the top."Looks like Stringbean came in handy after all, huh." she said, grinning.

"'Stringbean' almost fell off the tracks just now, why didn't you just co-ordinate your plan? Good thing they didn't try crossing- It's going to be a real task getting back there." I said frustrated.

"Uh, yeah about that gap, it's alot, uh bigger now." said Mike, followed by Cameron at the cave entrance, looking winded. "How are we getting back to the lake?" he asked.

"Details, details. Won't matter once we get outta here. Which we _will_." said Jo

"And if we don't, we'll just be trapped in here without food or water, Jo." I responded, facing her.

"Did you by chance miss the part where I said, we will?" asked Jo, folding her arms challengingly.

"No, I'm just saying that-"

"-We _will_. end of story."

"Jo-"

"What did I miss?" asked Zoey, walking in.

"Just these two are fightin as usual

'stead of makin out like normal people do (when they're obviously diggin on eachother.)" said Anne Maria with annoyance.

"I'm not-"

"-We're just-"

the two said defensively, _at the same time_. When they noticed the stopped and stared at eachother. After a moment's flustered silence Lightning spoke,

"Sha-akward!"

"Ugh- I don't have time for this." said Jo, pushing past him and climbing to the top of the crates.

"Hey, _Svetlana_, get up here. You're about the right height for this." she said, calling to Mike.

"What do you want me to do?" he asked warily.

"See that crate there, the one that's sticking out at an angle? Yeah, stand on that part and tiptoe real sharp- n' hold your arms up so I can get this last one to the top of the stack." she ordered. Mike climbed onto the precipice-like crate that jutted out. He looked down and saw a long way's drop in the narrow space between crates and carts.

"But- I can't do my Svetlana act- not now, unless...well...it's complicated." he said lamely.

Jo raised her eyebrows and even though the cave was hot Mike couldn't help feel the cold wave of suspicion that swept the room.

"He needs to feel like he's in danger," said Zoey quickly, "you know -it's like an acting trigger."

"Danger huh?" asked Jo, "Well that's easy- maybe I can give you the _push_ you need." she said shoving him sideways so that he swayed sharply off the edge and over the deep vetical space.

"Mike!" cried Zoey.

"Svetlana!" cried Lightning.

And in this case Lightning was the one who was right, it was Svetlana who, smiling, caught herself at the last second, bent in an impossible angle and balanced on only one toe. She then stretched out long enough to nearly reach the ceiling, the other toe pointed gracefully back.

"Ta-daaa!"

"Did it check out okay for inspection?" asked Brick, "I mean- what about the base, do you think it can hold its weight in carts?" he pointed out the bottom of the stack that seemed to sink slightly into the slate of the floor.

"Everything checks out. What's the matter? You _scared_, Captain Quake?"

"No way, this is nothing compared to the time I scaled Cress Clifface with two _incapacitated_ cadets slung over my backpack." said Brick, taking the bait.

"And one _incontinent_ cadet _under_ it." said Jo.

"Agh-I told you I do _not_-"

"Yeah yeah," said Jo, "Keep your pants on, Brickhouse."

Jo heaved the cart that was atop the pile of crates so that Svetlana could give it a final lift to the top of the stack, which she seemed to do with unearthly effortlessness.

Lightning stood staring with his mouth open until Jo called him out,

"Hey, Muscle Head, why don't you quit staring and get up here -and while you're at it help me push this eyesore out of the way." she said, pointing at the tree trunk which blocked their way of escape.

Lightning charged to the top of the stack, eyes still on Svetlana.

"You too, Sergeant Scaredeypants." called Jo.

"Well when you put it like that-" said Brick, folding his arms.

"Fine. Scott?" said Jo.

"Hey! I didn't say _no_-" said Brick, climbing the crates to take his place beside Jo.

"Just can't stay away, huh" said Jo, smirking. Brick rolled his eyes.

The three of them started ramming themselves against the trunk.

"Wait, Jo- it doesn't make sense to move the tree by applying force vertically," said Cameron, "it's got too much length, mass and leverage!" he said, drawing lines in the air.

"So what do I do?" asked Jo impatiently.

"Don't push up- find the niche and roll it over!" answered Cameron.

"Roll. Got it." said Jo.

* * *

><p>SCOTT<p>

They were on a roll. Things were working out way too well. At this rate they'd be out of here and I'd be out of a million buckaroos. But where ever there was a will thee was a wa-a-ait a minute- what was that sparkling silver over there. One of Zoey's 'knitting needles.' A smile crept across my face. That gave me an idea.

* * *

><p>BRICK<p>

Cameron was correct- it was moving, little by little the trunk was moving, just a foot or two more and we'd all be outside safe and sound and not in the dark. The light was already on us, I could see it in Jo's eyes, it was like she was reaching for the Sun. She was smiling, and I was smiling and she was smiling back and Lightning was using the side of his head to push the trunk and my hands were on hers and we exerted our efforts to the same one end.

* * *

><p>CAMERON<p>

We were all staring up and I think everyone forgot how hungry we were cause we just wanted out so bad. The tiny patch of light had turned into a small half-moon that I imagined I could fit through. If we were going to make a dash for the exit I'd need my medications.I turned to get them, and that's when I saw the tip of one of Zoey's needles Scott was unscrewing the planks of a crate. The planks that kept the crate crate that was supporting the entire structure. In the shadow of the stack he was out of view of the rest of them, but I saw. I dropped the pill bottle. He looked up sharply.

Needless to say I was terrified. And then he did the most terrifying thing, pulling out the last screw, he grinned at me.

First there was a jolt. A crushing sound as one crate collapsed in on itself then another as the two beside it buckled from the shift in pressure. Brick's eyes widened as the tower swayed dangerously to the left then dipped. Both Jo and Brick held onto the cart while the whole thing was in freefall, Jo jumping off the side and Brick tuck-and-rolling out as it hit the ground. Cameron was picking up his pill bottle when a crate fell from above but Mike, well Svetlana, was prancing around the room in elaborate high-jumps. Zoey had a close scrape between two carts that slammed dowm on either side of her."Ah!" she gasped. Mike came to and whipped around. "Zoey?!" he called out. There was a shout as the crate came crashing down onto the spot where Cameron was, or had been, Anne Maria had shoved him out of the way, and had to duck to the side so fast that her heel bent and broke. "My shoe!" she yelled furiously, along with some other words. Lightning was still holding on, with one arm gripping the rocky edge of the gap, looking desperately down.

* * *

><p>LIGHTNING<p>

Here Lightnin was about to take the fall and nobody was there to catch him, and if Lightnin died his football career'd be over! Lightnin had to hold on but the Lightnin was sweatin and his hand was slippin like babyback ribs fall off the bone. So this was how the Lightnin was gonna die, hungry and with nobody to- hey, there was Lightnin's man Scott, but why was he standing off in the corner like that...just- watchin.

"Hey, bro! Lightnin needs a hand!" yelled Lightnin, tryin not to look too lame.

* * *

><p>SCOTT<p>

Oh great. Now I needed to stop the quarterback from _breaking_ his back. I was trying to lay low over here but then he looked at me with that desperate doofus look and I ended up doing exactly what I didn't wanna. Rocks from the ceiling were falling everywhere and I had to keep stepping over the crates and running around the carts and he kept dropping lower and I wanted to yell just quit it already ya moron, how hard is it to hold on for just a second?!

But then I noticed something else. I had decided I needed to get the short one off my scent since he caught me screwing with that crate, and now I had my chance. Looks like Cameron's dropped his meds. I thought. And what kind of guy would I be if I didn't pick em up for him. I hopped over a crate to get it. Perfect. I thought, pocketing it.

"Bro!" shouted Lance. I snapped back and saw him lose his grip. His eyes were wide and he grabbed the air pointlessly while he fell. Then I did something I never did. I tried.

I scrambled over some shrapnel to get across, but there was no use. I did something else I never did. I failed.

* * *

><p>"Aghhh!" shouted Lightning, slamming painfully on his knees on the slate floor. He gripped it sorely.<p>

"Lightnin's knee!"

"Cameron, buddy, you okay?" asked Mike over Cameron, who had landed on his head.

"Mom, is that you? What happened to your hair?" asked Cameron dizzily before falling unconscious.

"Sha-agony!" shouted Lightning, eyes screwed tight.

"All right people shake it off, we're taking this from the top." said Jo, dusting off her elbows.

"Hey Bigmouth," said Anne Maria, getting up, "did you miss the part where we almost became floor pizza?"

"Jo, you've just injured two teammates- one of which could've been killed." said Brick pointing at Lightning.

"What- he's fine, you're fine, right?" said Jo.

"Nnnhhhh" groaned Lightning, still holding his knee.

"What?" asked Jo.

"_Nnnhh!"_ he said again, biting his tongue to make sure there was nothing that could be mistaken for waterworks.

"-He says he's _not_." said Scott, annoyed.

"You said you checked it out!" said Brick eyeing Jo angrily.

"I did!" said Jo, "It was a fluke! " now she was glaring at him.

"First of all we need to regroup before even thinking about trying something like that again-" said Brick, gesticulating.

"We wait: we starve to death." said Jo, with arms folded.

Brick went on ignoring her interruption.

"-second. How are we going to build a sturdy structure out of broken crates-" he indicated the room at large.

"If we just hurry up this time it won't matter if-" started Jo

"-and third." said Brick, "Look at the ceiling Jo," he said, pointing at the cracked ceiling above, at which Jo didn't even spare a glance,

"if we try that again, it just might collapse on top of us." finished Brick.

"Or, we just might get out in time instead of dying waiting around." said Jo sharply. Then she looked up at the light that flooded down from the gap and spoke softer, addressing Brick.

"Come on, Cadet. Can't you see it?"

"I..." started Brick, looking from the tiny patch of blue sky down to where they reflected in Jo's blue eyes that were looking at him searchingly.

"..._don't._" ended Brick.

"You look up and see another way out Jo, take a look down and see what it's cost you." he pointed at the room. Lightning was lying curled in pain, Cameron was unconscious. Mike was prying Zoey out from between two carts. "You want to get out, so you're pushing everybody, but you can't push people this hard without breaking them. Well I'm through getting pushed around. And I think everybody else wants a break from it too.

"So what, you're all going to quit on me?" asked Jo incredulously.

"Don't take this the wrong way but, you jeopardized my boyfriend's life- and that's really not okay!" said Zoey.

"Boyfriend?" asked Mike hopefully.

"Mhm." said Zoey.

"You broke my heel, you crazy broad!" shouted Anne Maria, shaking her fist.

"Next time you decide to gamble, maybe you should just put your neck on the line. Go ahead an take that the wrong way, I don't give a-"

"Sha-Jeez! Y'all are just pathetic. Lightnin ain't about to quit on his man, Joe! Sure he's tough- but if that's what it takes to get you losers to get Lightnin out of here then Lightnin says Joe is the man with the plan."

Suddenly Jo grabbed him by the shirt, pulling him slightly off the ground.

"Listen Sparky, now I'm going to say it, loud enough to get through that dense skull of yours. I am **NOT** a guy, Got it?" she said through gritted teeth.

"Quit talkin crazy, dude! Lightnin's eyes do not deceive! And if you _ain't _a dude, then how come you're all muscle and sideburns stead of lipstick and miniskirts, you know, like a girl'd be!" said Lightning perkily.

"grrr..._You're dead, Meathead_!" shouted Jo, rearing back her fist,

"What'd Lightnin sa-" started Lightning befo9re getting hit one heck of a mean punch that landed him right in the eye.

"-Ow!" he said, falling back to the ground "Lightnin down! Lightnin down!"

"Whadya do that for?" asked a notable ticked-off Scott.

"This is what Lightnin gets for stickin up for his-" said Lightning, sitting up and opening his bruised eye, "wait a sec, what'd you do to my man, Joe, angry girl?" he asked peering at Jo, who grunted and pushed past him..

Brick got up and headed towards the tracks. The rest of them started to follow, except for Jo who stood bolted to her position in the middle of the cave.

"What, so now you're going with him?" she said.

"It's nothing personal," said Zoey uneasily, "but I'm less scared of Brick, so-"

"Yeah, your attitude stinks." said Mike.

"Lightning's been betrayed by a _girl_!" shouted Lightning.

"Ha, She got you good!" said Anne Maria with her hands on her knees.

"Sha-please! Lightnin can take a punch from _any_ guy- let alone a _girl_." he said, springing up and wincing with the weight on his leg.

"You can't walk out on me!"shouted Jo.

"Psh. You kiddin me?" asked Anne Maria, "I'd run if you hadn't just busted up my 50 dollar heels."

"Fine! Go ahead! But don't come crying to me when your plans go down the tubes!" said Jo, folding her arms and turning away so she didn't have to see them leave.

* * *

><p>BRICK<p>

"So what's the plan, _Captain_?" asked Scott somewhere behind me. I turned around. I still felt an empty ache in my ribcage that I knew had only one cause.

"Those of you who can, help me bridge the track."

"With what?" asked Mike.

"We can use the strips of wood from off this crate, and use the nails to attach them lengthways. Then we can put three in a row. That way it'll be long enough to cover the gap, but strong enough to carry our weight, well,as long as nobody runs." he glanced over at Lightning, who didn't look up to much running or even walking.

"I have another plan for escape, in a part of the mine that's not so risky. Now it might take a while, but if we find a way to get back and we work on the wall of rock nearest the elevator lifts- we might be able to do this before sundown tomorrow."

* * *

><p>After fashioning some decent weapons out of shrapnel from the fall, planks with nails, sharpened splints and a large club Lightning had made from a stalagmite he'd pulled out of the ground, the hunt had begun.<p>

Torch in hand Brick descended into the lower tunnels with Anne Maria Lightning and Scott, whose creeping sense of unease heightened with every step they took closer to the exit. His exit.

* * *

><p>SCOTT<p>

There had to be some way to get Mister Mission out of charge. Luckily he'd be easier to sway than Jo.

"Oh man! Dumb Scott – I forgot my slingshot back at the cave!" I said.

"Real specific- in case you haven't noticed there are caves all over da place." Said Anne Maria rolling her eyes.

"You should just leave me behind, I'll just hold everything back." Said Scott, slumping away sadly.

"No, of course not. We're a team, and nobody gets left behind on my watch." said Brick forcefully.

" I'll go get the tooth and you can wait here," he left, signaling to halt.

He headed back up the tunnel to the lake cavern and disappeared.

* * *

><p>SCOTT<p>

I grabbed the torch.

Sparky started groaning "Lightnin is tired o waitin-" he said, "When are we gettin that grub? he said, rubbing his hands together.

"Brick just said to wait." said Anne Maria

"Look at the guy, he's_ starving_!" I said, putting my hand on Lightning's shoulder. "Brick'll probably be glad we went anyways."

"Whatevs." she said. "How are we doin this?"

"Lightnin's got an idea!" said Lightning, rubbing his hands together.

"Well dere's a first time for everythin, isn't there." said Anne Maria, lookin over at me.

* * *

><p>ANNE MARIA<p>

Why is it that one minute Freckles has a whole nice-guy thing goin on, and then every now an then he's, I dunno more like a real person- the kind o guy who can recognise a chance for a laugh, who knows how to kick back- who ain't just some kind of panicky do-gooder workaholic.

I didn't know what to make of that guy- but I decided to keep an eye on him.

Lightning had run off and veered into a tunnel further away. Scott was almost nervous until he noticed a familiar smell that told him he was far enough from his exit. The smell got stronger and they ened up outside a dank cave.

"Sha-Scorpions!"" said Lightning staring inside the cave.

When we caught up there weren't no scorpions around. But then Lightnins voice vibrated on the walls and they stated crawlin out from everywhere. And wouldn't ya know it he started hittin em with the dull end of the pickaxe. He got a few but then when he bent down to pick em up more started comin and crawlin up his arm. "Ow! "Ow!"he said gettin stung hard a couple times.""Stay still so the Lightnin can kill you!"

Soon the whole floor was covered in em and we backed away.

"Not a good idea, doofus, said Scott kicking down a barrel so it fell between us and the scorpions. But obviously _the Lightnin_ wasn't gonna give up so easy.

* * *

><p>LIGHTNING<p>

Lightnin's man Scott threw down that barrel, which gave the Lightnin an idea! Lightnin hopped onto it and started runnin- fast. The barrel was rollin now and Lightnin pretended to lose his balance a couple times (you know, to keep the audience in suspense!)

Those scorpions didn't stand a chance against the Lightnins barrel-rollin sha-skills! Lightnin could hear their pathetic bodies crunchin beneath him. Lightnin turned around- now he was doin it in reverse! Lightnin couldn't tell who was swoonin harder , Orange Girl or Scott.

In no time Lightnin had crushed every last one, and the ones who were too chicken to face the Lightnin all ran away- back to their loser scorpion mamas!

Lightnin hopped off the barel and picked up a scorpion between two planks, holding it like giant chopsticks.

Scott held out his torch and Lightning scorched the thing until it sizzled. "You're not actually gonna-" started Anne Maria before Scott tore off a piece and ate it.

"nope, ya did." she ended.

"Not bad..." said Scott before snapping off a leg. Lightning chomped off the tail end, stinge and all.

"Spicy!" he said, smiling. Scott held out a piece for Anne Maria.

"Ew, like I'm eatin dat! I'll stick to starvin to death, thanks."

"More for Lightnin!" said Lightning, finishing one and picking up more until he had a pile of them in his arms.

Scott aimed his slingshot at him

Hey! The Lightnin was savin some for you! said Lightning quickly.

"I'm not gonna- ch, just duck, you doofus."

he said and he let loose a stone that hit something on the ceiling, something which screeched and landed with a thud. Anne Maria poked it with her splint.

"Dat's one ugly duck." she said.

Scott grabbed the splint and speared it before swiping it through the flame of the torch.

Lightning took a bite.

"Gravy-y!" he said before eating the rest.

"Isn't that the wishbone?" pointed out Scott.

"It is? Sha-score!,Lightnin wishes for more _bats_." Said Lightning.

"Or you could wish for us gettin out of here sometime before November." Snarked Anne Maria.

"Ya cant say it out loud -thats bad luck." Said Scott.

"Bro! Bad luck can't touch the Lightnin!" Said Lightning, before a wad of bat guano landed on his shoulder.

"Sha-nasty!" he said, wiping it off while Scott and Anne Maria snickered.

"_You_ die _first_." said Lightning narrowing his eyes at the bat directly above him.

Comin right up! said Scott, taking aim.

* * *

><p>ANNE MARIA<p>

After about a hour o dis (with those two sickos gettin nothin anybody'd wanna touch with a four foot fork) I decided I had enough.

Could we just find somethin to eat that doesn't make me wanna clamp my mouth shut?

"Whats the matter girl, you on one o them sissy protein free diets?" asked Lightning. He held a bat-on-a-stick in her direction and I pushed it away with disgust.

"Yeah, or maybe she's just _chicken_." said Scott, smirking

Man I could go for some o dat right about now. Chicken fingers like the kind they served next to the arcade- with mozerella sticks and fries and about a gallon of fresco soda.

I hadn't had anythin to eat in like a million hours. Suddenly somethin streaked across the tunnel so fast I barely caught a glimpse.

It was pale and small, maybe a pig? Nah- how'd a pig be able to get into this dump?

I walked down the tunnel. I could hear its footsteps Where you goin girl? asked Ligthtnin I just kept goin after it, I think it rounded a corner so I did too. Man this was hard to do in messed up heels, my feet were killin me but I sped up anyways. Somethin about bringin back the bacon and seein the look on foureyes' face, somethin about the runnin itself, you know? Gettin closer every step, turnin right left, thinkin quick and runnin quicker. It felt like the wind was messin up my hair but I didn't even care cause I knew I was gonna get that little whatever it was good.

It ran down a side tunnel and I followed. It was completely dark here. And even kinda cold. I took a step but had to shuffle back quick cause the ground was cumblin there and the stones were fallin down. Way down. I heard the thing stop runnin, it was obviously nowhere to go and there was nothin between us but a botomless pit and a little bit o walkway. It turned and I saw its big eyes glowin yellow in the dark.

I leaned back flat against the wall so I could walk across without fallin off the edge. My heels were on the ground but the tips of my toes weren't on anything. Some more pebbles fell loose. I made sure not to look down.

It was scary as hell, like a ferris wheel except the scary didn't just last for five seconds. I was around a quarter through when the wall started to lean forwards, great, now I had to look down.

It was dak down there. Real dark. Probably kill ya to fall down there. Probably kill ya the moment you hit the bottom. My heel was wobblin like crazy- I swayed but I caught myself just in time to grab onto the wall with one hand and hold out the other to try to balance.

I closed my eyes an kept goin. It was dead quiet. I imagined I was just takin a walk on the sea wall. Maybe at night, real late when everyone was either too drunk or too tired to keep dancin, some kid set up an illegal bonfire an somebody who could play was tryin out some guitar songs real slow-like.

And people just sit around in the sand and the only light was ripplin off the water all blue.

_Hurk _

The thing made a sound. I opened my eyes, I made it!

Wooh! Oh yeah! Who's goin down? Not me, not today! Nuh-uh, who's your daddy!

It blinked twice and then the stupid thing bit me!

Ow! Then it ran away while I grabbed my ankle and hopped on one foot.

"Oh you are so gonna be dinner." I said,and I went after it. Now it was cornered. Nowhere to go.

It backed up and I knew I had it, but then it disappeared- like it squeeezed through a hole in the wall!

Cripes! I said, poundin the wall with my fist. Wait a sec, was it hollow?

I hit it again, it was some kind of cave on the other side blocked off with a slab o rock.

There's gotta be a way to open this up.

This'd be a good time for Cameron to show up with his whole 'let's solve it with science' kick. Wait a sec, one o his ideas was givin me an idea.

I tore the bracket off the wall and hooked it into the crack. I pulled it but it bent. No good.

I saw something further away, a pickaxe. I dug it behind the boulder and pushed it, hard. There was some rumblin and the boulder started to move away from the wall- bam, leverage, just like dat.

It was abouut enough for me to squeeze though, I stopped pushin but the rumblin didn't. Actually sounded more like snorin..from the other side of the rock. No, growlin. An it was loud.

How many of those pig things were there?

Unless...

I edged in close and leaned to look inside.

Next thing I knew I was eye to eye, or more like eye to teeth with the biggest mutated giant mole-thing I ever saw. Behind it was the small one from before lookin all smug.

GRRRRRRRRR

It came at me all of a sudden, snapped its teeth shut where my head was a second before.

"Yikes!" I said, pullin away.

I leaned with my back to the rock, tryina push it back but the thing was pushin harder.

Oh crap oh crap oh crap I said runnin all frantic. I heard a cash behind me and it sounded the rock had blasted away an landed into the pit. It growled again, I could almost feel its breath hot on my heels. I I don't know how I made it across that ledge the second time but all I remember is not lookin down and not lookin back.

* * *

><p>JO<p>

I wandered off while everyone else had gone...elsewhere. I wasn't used to wandering- usually I moved with purpose...but without leadership I didn't have much of a purpose anyways. Brick had seen to that.

For a second back there I thought he was on board with my new plan- they way he looked at me when we were so close- (to getting out of there I mean). I thought he finally appreciated my strong leadership. I should've took my own advice and escaped alone- my way- stead of trying to get everyone involved- which ended up being a mess. You can't blame me for their lack of co-ordination.  
>It wasn't my fault, so I'm a little tough. You can lead a team to victory but you can't expect things to stay all chummy. I knew that one by heart. Then why'd it feel so bad to see them ditch me and follow him? Without even hesitating...<p>

I ended up in a low-ceilinged cave full of stuff. Broken stuff- mostly pickaxes. Reminded me of something the cadet said. He was saying I treated everyone like tools. So maybe I played a couple weaknesses. So maybe I used a few strengths to convenience. The same ones who were whining about their injuries- wouldn't they all be thanking me when we got out of here?

It wasn't like I hated them cause they fell short in the skill of survival. It wasn't like I didn't care whether they lived or died- (that was the whole point of getting out!) It wasn't like I couldn't be nice. Heck, I'm the best nice...person- type..thing I know!

But he wanted me to be _nice_.

Nobody respects _nice._ Nobody listens to _nice_. And _nice_ doesn't get you out of deathtraps.

I would never know now. They were ready to jump when he said jump- and they were probably all smiles about it too. He was probably with em right now, having the time of his life now he could finally act out his Troop Leader McArthur fantasy. Of course dragging me through the mud for it didn't make him the bad guy.

No, that was me. I was heartless.

I wished I was- then I wouldn't feel so at home in this room full of stupid broken useless junk.

* * *

><p>CAMERON<p>

I was dizzy and lightheaded. So many things had happened this morning, but I had the nauseating feeling it had something to do with my lack of medication and the spore inhalation of the other day. I didn't have my bottle of pills, I remembered picking it up but, my memory was blurry and just trying to remember hut my head. I must've dropped them...

The one thing did stand out, was the image of Scott loosening the screws of the base crate, deliberately compromising the structural integrity of Jo's tower. I knew there was something suspicious about him, but why would he do something to thwart our escape? I couldn't figure it out, but keeping my eye out for him was going to be very difficult now ...I could hardly keep... my eyes open.

"Cameron!" called Zoey, running over to me. I seemed to be on the ground.

"You okay man?" asked Mike, offering me a hand.

"Mushrooms!" I said, pointing out a few that sprung up between a rock and the cavern wall.

"Hey, yeah" said Zoey kneeling to take a look.

"Rhodocollybia maculata." to be exact. I indicated the brown spots on them.

"Spotted Toughshank! They're the kind that's safe to eat." said Mike.

"You read Ezwhich's Encyclopedia of Fungii too?" I asked with suprise.

"Um, no...but I did earn a plant identification patch back when I was in the Junior Park Rangers." replied Mike.

"These shouldn't go to waste," I said picking them up.

"We could have them with whatever the others bring back." said Zoey, "although something tells me it won't exactly be-"

"Bats on a stick, Zoey." said Mike, They're going to come back here with bats on a stick."

"Oh yuck, no way...even Lightning wouldn't eat that even if it is protein" said Zoey in an impression of Lightning's pitchy voice.

"Oh yeah?" said Mike, "Well twelve bucks says he will."

"You're on." said Zoey.

"Well, I'm off." I said, getting up and starting to clamber up the rocky slope that led to the tracks. Or at least attempting to, the ledges were so high.

"Woah woah woah, you're not going up there," said Mike blocking my way.

"I've got to get my pill bottle." I said, reaching for the ledge. It was so high up, high and spinning and-

"Cameron!" said Zoey again, I was on the ground again. That was happening alot lately. For a second I thought my glasses had fallen off before I realised my vision was just extremely unclear.

The next thing I knew Mike was picking me up and laying me out onto a flat-topped rock.

"You're not going anywhere." said Mike and before I could protest he said, "I'll get it, just stay here and no more going exploring" he said, and just like that he'd headed up the rocky slope to the tracks. He turned around again and added, "and don't move" in the process stumbling backwards over a rock and shooting back up again.

Well, I was already started on the not moving part. I closed my eyes and blacked out.

When I woke up my forehead was burning, my eyesight was cloudy and it felt like my chest was in a mideival clamp device. I could hardly breathe and I was sweltering. This cave felt like an oven and I couldn't move. I felt heavy or like a candle that'd melted and stuck to the rock. I pulled myself to sitting.

"Want some water?" asked Zoey, she'd just come back from the spring high up in the wall we used as a sort of tap.

"Thanks." I tried to say, but no sound came out. My throat had seized up and it felt like I was being choked.

Zoey winced and laid me back down. "When you lose your voice you're supposed to lie down. Or was it stand on your head- no, wait that's hiccups..." pondered Zoey before looking at me apologetically. I made something out in the distance.

"Mike?" I said, or tried to say. He was sitting hunched over on a rock and he looked upset.

"I couldn't find your tablets," said Mike. "I'm sorry I-"

"It's no problem-" I tried to say. He looked sort of sad. I knew that look, like he thought I was good as dead.

I looked up at the ceiling, the track, it was broken again, even worse this time.

"I broke it." said Mike, "by accident, but..."

* * *

><p>ZOEY<p>

I didn't actually see when Mike broke the track, but how did he manage to do it anyways? Brick had screwed it together solid- all of us were able to cross, even though it took a while for Scott to get across...something about fixing his shoelaces so he wouldn't trip and risk any of us falling. Poor guy, he seemed so...so selfless, always acting all concerned about everyone- going off all the time to find a way out, hardly touching his food, and trying to warn me and Anne Maria about what he thought about Mike.

I was starting to wonder who to believe. I mean everything in my head told me Scott was right...breaking the track, sneaking off, avoiding anything to do with his MPD, and Anne Maria have this look on her face after they'd gone off together this morning.

But something else told me Mike was Mike, and he was different- good different. I guess, things never worked out for me with stuff like this...aw but everything was going so perfect! Except for the whole slow agonizing death thing- Mike was just so confusing- there were times like when he stands so close and how he looked so cute that my knees start knocking, then there were times that he just gave you this strange feeling like he's hiding something, like part of him was in shadow and you could only see a part of him- it was so weird...

The others were coming back- I knew I might'nt get another chance at this.

"Mike," I said pointing at the exit tunnel, "walk with me?"

He smiled and got up. Here goes, I thought.

LIGHTNING

Lightnin and his man Scott were headin back to the lake with lunch when Orange Girl came runnin down the tunnel. Girl didn't stop in time and crash tackled into the Lightnin, knockin him off his feet and everythin.

"Watch out girl, you tryina kill the Li-" The Lightnin stopped and looked up at Pretty Girl, and she was lookin at Lightnin too. Lightnin knew he was gonna say somethin important but right now but believe it or not there was nothin in Lightnin's mind! Girl's hair was all over the place, and her lips were parted cause she was breathin like she was scared or..somethin. Lightnin realised somethin- Pretty Girl was Sha-gorgeous! Lightnin tried to say somethin, somethin cool. The ladies love cool.

"Uh-" Lightnin said while he got up. Aw man, that was the opposite of cool, fool!

"Are you just gonna stand there starin or are ya gonna help me up?" asked Pretty Girl, pickin herself up anyways.

Lightnin shook his head.

"Woah girl, you hit like a pro- which doesn't make much sense since you're a girl!" said Lightning, smilin. Pretty Girl didn't smile, she was angry at Lightnin!

"Well they taught a jackass to talk so i guess anything's possible." she said, walkin off ahead of us.

"what'd Lightning say?" Lightning asked his main man, Scott.

"I dunno." said Scott, "...chicks."

"Oh no, Lightnin's not givin up that easily!" said the Lightnin, joggin ahead.

"this is one guy who ain't joinin your team anytime soon!"

"Team?" asked Scott raisin his eyebrow. "wha- ahhhgg -I'm not,- I don't like- ah forget it." he said, followin the Lightnin, draggin his feet like always.

* * *

><p>CAMERON<p>

I lay there holding onto a tin can that Zoey'd fixed up with a string of twine so it was connected with another one that she'd taken with them. Mike told me to tap it twice if I needed something- but I'd be fine, and anyway I figured he was finally about to breach the subject of his MPD with Zoey- so I didn't want to distract him. They were just about to head out when Lightning sped in followed by Scott and Anne Maria, holding up what looked like a giant burnt bat-kebab.

"See! What'd I say?" asked Mike.

"Okay fine, so you were right." said Zoey, poking him.

"You know the rules, pay up." said Mike.

"Aw sorry, I left my cash in that other abandoned mine." said Zoey with a shrug.

"Are you losers gonna eat or what?" asked Lightning, clearly annoyed that no-one had appreciated his efforts.

"Um...maybe later?" said Zoey not wanting to hurt his feelings but looking wearily at the 'meal'

"Speakin of food, what's eatin this guy?" asked Lightning pointing his thumb at me.

"Just a bout of pulmonary malaise triggered by spore ninhalation and reduced immune function." I said clearly, from the blank looks on their faces even if they could hear me they probably wouldn't have understood.

"He's sick." said Mike.

"Well yeah," said Lightning, "That's whatchya get for overdoin it at lunch, kid."

"I had _half a can_ of _mystery meat_." I said.

"Sha-yeah, half a can Lightnin coulda used to refuel from all this work!" he yelled, waving around the bats on a stick.

I was suddenly nauseous. I bent double leaning over the rock and was sick all over the floor.

"Dude! Lightnin's sneaks!" said Lightning angrily jumping out of the way.

"Give the guy a break," said Mike, pulling me up and handing me the tin of water, "he doesn't have his meds so he could die!"

Then he realised what he said and cringed "I mean-"

"Die?" repeated Lightning loudly.

Mike was embarassed for the outburst and I tried to mouth 'It's okay, I'll be fine."

MIKE

"So...what'd you wanna talk about?" I asked after about a minute of walking down an empty tunnel.

"Um-" said Zoey.

"Hey, wait- I know this really cool spot." I said, leading he down a side tunnel to the cave Cameron had shown me earlier.

"Oh wow!" said Zoey, looking around at the tiny specks of light above. Her eyes were full of that blue and I couldn't stand just watching anymore now we were alone. I stepped closer and held her hand.

"Mike..." she said, pulling away. What was wrong? I unconsciously held her hand tighter.

"I was wondering if...you'd tell me a little more about your multiple personality complex." said Zoey, looking up at me.

"Disorder." I corrected.

"Oh...sorry," she said looking down and wrining her bangles.

"No, that's- that's okay-" I said reaching out to brush a stray strand of hair from in front of her eyes.

"I've actually never heard somebody say it like that, usually 'disorder's' the part people stress..." I admitted.

She looked at me curiously then she spoke quickly like she'd been bottling up something for a long time.

"How'd you get your MPD?" the question startled me and I blinked at her.

"I mean- you said it was something that happened to you..."

"Oh, that..." I said. Suddenly I was terrified. It felt like I was under a gigantic spotlight when she looked at me like that. I really wanted to tell her so things would be okay again- but what if they weren't? What if after she knew how easy I was to break- how broken I was...What if she'd leave?

My brain was going back and forth and I felt like I was on a timer and I was going to explode. I was losing control, I felt Chester getting nearer with every second.

Then I remembered Scott and his deal- how soon I'd be able to tell Zoey that- that there was nothing to tell! That I was a normal guy and I could protect her from all the scary stuff without anybody's help- me, Mike. I could finally be alone with her, nobody else.

"There's nothing to tell." I said, "Long story short I got hypnotized by my old acting teacher, Vorzana but don't worry about it, I'm going to get it reversed so this whole MPD thing will be history." I said.

"So, you and your teacher…are you close?" asked Zoey, looking at me weird.

"I guess you could say I keep tabs on her, yeah!" I said.

"Oh..." she said. For a minute she didn't say anything or look at me. She was looking into one of the reflective pools of cave-water.

"What were you and Anne Maria talking about earlier?" she asked suddenly.

"Nothing!" I said too quickly. Did Zoey think I would- that I would ever..? I realised I sounded defensive so I tried adding casually,

"Uh, canned goods mostly. You wanna head back?" I pointed to the tunnel outside.

"Yeah...I think that would be good." she said and she trailed off, looking at the ground.

* * *

><p>ZOEY<p>

He was walking just a foot away from me, but why'd I have the funny feeling I was totally alone. Scott was right. Anne Maria was right. Why was everyone always right when they said I got things wrong?

Love makes you naiive, that's how the song goes. But I knew it was just stupid me being clueless as usual, wanting to believe that somebody really liked me, somebody who I was really starting to-

_Love stinks_. That's how the song should go.

Gone, everything was gone, all the feeling had left and I was cold inside 's weird how when you're cold all the time, you're used to it. But after you feel that first hint of warmth come and go, the cold is just that much more unbearable. Mike was like the weed that wrapped itself around my heart, and I guess I should've known from the first- that he'd crush it to pieces. The kind of pieces that were too small to fix with a craft kit and a tube of sticky-stick.

SCOTT

I finally got a chance to ditch the others. Sparky was busy workin out by the lake and Miss Thing was off fixing her hair.

I decided to check on my exit, see if maybe the coast was clear. I'd go back to Chris' place and make sure they knew what I thought of their stinkin plot.

I looked out of the hole into the light.

The coast was definiteley not clear, the shark was right there, wait a second...was he-?

I walked a little closer. Sharky was layin on the ground, belly-up with his mouth open. Those teeth sure looked sharp, musta been about a hundred of em. Make that ninety-nine, seein as he was missin one of em, the one I had in my back pocket.

I looked closer. The doofus had a tranq dart stuck in his side, except it was green stead of red. Chef must've finally taken the stupid shark out for good. Well, at least he was good for something. It was quiet out here...too quiet.

I heard a rustle in the bushes. For a second I got that feeling you get right before somebody jumps outta the bushes and shoots ya in the foot with a tranquilizer gun. But then I saw a guy walkin through the woods who I didn't recognise and I hid behind the nearest tree. He was talking and I thought he'd seen me, but he was talking on a phone.

"What do you mean, Milton- she's just a kid- put her to bed, buy her a convertible or something, we don't need any distractions. I assure you everything will go according to plan. I can't say no-one will get hurt, but if they do, I won't be to blame." he stopped walking very close to where I was.

"Yes, yes. Goodbye." he said and hung up. Suddenly he spoke aloud.

"What are you doing in the bushes, Mr. Hatchet?" asked the man.

"Uh, I was just gettin rid of our shark problem." said Chef.

"Hm, I see. And is it dead or just paralyzed?" asked the man.

"Dead." said Chef.

"Alright, well I notice the exit to the mine is still open, anyone could just wander out, and we don't want that do we?" he said slowly.

"Uh, nope.." answered Chef.

"Good. So hurry up and seal it shut." said the man. He started walking away, his boots were loud and heavy.

I looked out from behind the tree to get a good look. He stopped all of a sudden.

"And..." he said, "While you're at it, kill the shark properly, would you? I can hear its pulse from here."

He picked something up off the ground and tossed it to Chef before walking off.

Something that glinted in the sunlight.

My pennknife!

* * *

><p>LIGHTNING<p>

Lightnin was just hangin back and workin out, which usually was great! But Glasses Dude was a lame audience-lyin around makin little cryin noises in his sleep. At first Lightnin wanted to smack some sense into him- but then Lightnin thought about the time the same thing happened to his dog back when he was a puppy. Lightnin had just brought him home from this place where they make champion dogs ('for champion kids' said Lightnin's dad) and not loser dogs like you find in the pound. Lightnin was sittin in the car thinkin about all the fun stuff we were gonna do together but right after Lightnin got home the dog started cryin and whinin and it wouldn't even eat its delicious protein-packed bacon strips, even after Lightnin showed him how! Lightnin felt bad, like he was losin a best bro- then Lightnin came home from school and his dog was gone, and a new one was there, they looked mostly the same but Lightnin could tell the difference. Lightnin could see really close stuff back then.

Lightnin asked his dad where his dog was and his dad said he was on vacation in Bora Bora. Lightnin didn't believe that, but Lightnin's dad would never lie to Lightnin! So Lightnin named New Dog 'The Truth!'

Lightnin already loved First Dog but he decided to leave Lightnin, so Lightnin decided he would love second dog like if he was two dogs- that's math! Lightnin knows cause Lightning is smart, even though sometimes Lightnin got the feelin everybody thought he was stupid. Back then Lightnin was just Lance, and lance wasn't smart or good at nothin, Lance was seriously a loser! Then Lightnin earned his name and title when he became QB in freshman year- Lightnin ran so fast everybody had to look. Even Lightnin's dad started lookin at Lightnin different. Now with Lightnin people didnt care if he couldnt do complicated quatriple equations and area of a sqaure or all of that, Lightnin realised all that mattered in a man was sports, and if you were good at them you had it made, girls like you boys wanna be you -if you were bad at them well you got beat up. Nobody cared about Lightnin's dumb grades- scores were the only numbers that mattered. For the first time in Lightnin's life today somebody wasn't a fan o Lightnin. Red Hair Girl was all tellin Lightnin he's selfish. Sha-please! Lightnin wasn't selfish.

Lightnin used to help take care of his momma after she got sick. Lightnin was only five and he used to sit on her bed and bring her suppliment drinks. It was weird cause before she got sick Lightnin's mom used to bring Lightnin his cocoa to his bed (She always put an extra scoop in so Lightnin'd grown up big an strong).

Lightnin don't exactly remember everythin about her, even when Lightnin tries- Lightnin remembers her sayin stuff like "Close your eyes and say night night, Lance." And how Lightnin would ask her to stay and read him a story. And how Lightnin would pretend he couldn't read so his momma would stay longer. She would always smile at the Lightnin like she knew he was pretendin. But one time Lightnin heard his dad's voice whisperin to her in the hall when they thought he was sleepin.

"I told you the kid ain't too smart- just another reason we gotta get him into sports! Good thing he's got his dad's fast feet." said my dad.

Lightnin stopped tryin to read after that, the words were gettin blurry anyways. Lightnin liked to hear his momma's voice. He could always remember it, even though he couldn't remember her face so clearly. Lightnin's doctor started talkin bout blah blah blah degenerative condition blah blah blah corrective lenses, but then Lightnin started learnin to play football and his dad said glasses were just gonna affect his game. Sometimes Lightnin felt like his dad only cared about what Lightnin did while he was on a football green, and after that Lightnin was invisible. One time Lightnin found some of his dad's old pictures and found out they used to call his dad Thunder Thorton and Lightnin realised if his dad was happy playin football then his dad probably just wanted to make Lightnin happy the way he was. As long as there was a game on TV or at the stadium they'd have somethin to talk about. Lightnin remembered the last time they talked about somethin else, it was right after mom died. Lightnin was sittin in the car on the way to the hospital after kindegarten.

"How come mom's not comin home today like she promised?" Lightnin asked his dad.

"Lance...your momma's not coming back home..." he said, and he wasn't lookin at me he was just starin at the road with his hands on the wheel. "..she- she's dead, son."

Nobody every told Lightnin what that word meant, but the way he said it I...I knew he meant she was gone.

"W-Why's she dead, daddy?" I asked him, cryin my eyes out.

"Sometimes...when you get too old and your bodys been trying to win against something... sometimes your body's too weak, and it has to give up."

Lightnin was hurtin inside, bad. Lightnin felt like his mom didn't wanna stay with Lightnin anymore, it felt like when he was half asleep in his bed holding onto her arm -and she got up and left.

For a while Lightnin had a lotta nightmares about demons under his bed comin to make the Lightnin die. But Lightnin knew if he trained hard enough he'd be strong enough to take them head on.

Lightnin cared alot about for his momma, and later on Lightnin knew she cared about him too. But carin about things was a waste of time in the final minute, cause it ended up leavin you anyways.

If that made Lightnin selfish then so what.

Lightnin kicked a pebble into the lake. Small Dude made a sound and then he coughed a little bit. He reached over for some water but there was no more left. He didn't do anything except lie back down and look at the ceilin. Man that kid was weak!

"Hey, Little Man-" I said, walkin over to him. "You better take some of this."

Lightning took out his last can of VOOM. Lightnin was savin it up for an extra burst of energy when they finally tried to get out of here for good.

Little Dude tried to say somethin but Lightnin just said, "Do it quick before all the bubbles go away."

The kid drank the rest of it. Lightnin felt better now he didn't look so pathetic.

CAMERON

My better judgement told me drinking that corrosive concoction of sugar and stimulants was a bad idea at most, but Mike had told me never ever to mess with a guy who was a) desperate and b) bigger than you. And Lightning was some of both.

The stuff tasted strange- it was so carbonated I felt like the fizz was going to spurt out of my nose. It was sharply sweet and acidic at the same time, my eyes watered.

"The burn means it's workin!" said Lightning. He clapped me on the back causing me to accidentally gulp down the rest.

I think I'm gonna be sick again. I thought.

He got up and started jogging. I lay back down. Why did I think it'd have any effect on me? Lightning had been strong his whole life, It wasn't like I was going to stop being the sick kid after 300 mililetres of liquid energy. His dad probably educated him in all things athletic before he could even spell his name. I was born this way- and the closest thing I had to a goalpost was the bedpost my mom had covered with bubblewrap so I wouldn't hit my head. I remember taking it off once just to prove her wrong, then hitting my head about fourteen times in one night while I was trying to sit up and read. It wasn't my fault encyclopedias were so heavy. I mean, there were the times I liked, for instance when we sat and watched movies together or just talked over dinner (though topics were restricted from anything either 'creepy' or 'crawly') and sometimes she took me to the hairdresser with her to get my monthly cut, and I'd listen to the other moms and give them advice when I was all out of old Aquarium Enthusiast magazines and then after we'd walk home with her squeezing my hand tighter than neccessary and me slowing down to look at the kids in the park. But sometimes I'd look in on the barbershop, full of guys talking about guy things- things I could only guess at through the glass. It seemed like everything I looked at was through glass, whether it was the plexiglass of my bubble or my spectacles, I never got a chance to be a part of something until now- well, until I got sick and my vision turned dizzy.

Scott, this was all his doing. Why didn't he want out? He obviously didn't like it in here because he was always running off alone...or maybe he was running out! The sense of urgency that consumed the rest of us hardly even nibbled at Scott's mind- he had found an escape and was covering it up. So many answers- but the question remained: why?

"Lightnin would love to sit around watchin you be tired an all but he's gotta meet his man Scott!" he said getting up and cracking his knuckles. I had to tell him, he could alert the others. And if Scott was really so malevolent he was walking right into danger.

"Lightning, Scott isn't to be trusted- he's lying to us- he's found a way out, maybe you can find it too but don't let him know you know." I said quickly.

Lightning stared at me, "You're gonna have to raise the volume, dude! Lightnin can't read lips!"

I must've tried about seven different sign language spellings of Scott.

"Sha-scuse me? Lightnin's pretty sure you're not supposed to use words like that on TV!" said Lightning.

I slapped my forehead. I decided to pickup a rock and see if it'd make a mark on the ground. It was ineffective, I tossed it away but it hit Lightning in the shin. Ow! You been takin lessons from Scott or what?

I pointed dramatically.

What, lessons? takin? Scott?

I nodded.

What happened- is Lightnin's bro in trouble or what?

I shook my head. Suddenly I pointed to the newspaper.

**This week's winning lottery number is**

I pointed at the word **is**. He squinted but he got it

"Scott is..."

I searched the page but I had to flip it a few times. I could tell he was getting impatient and his attention span was short. What one word would sum up my meaning?

I found it.

**claims that recent statements made by the governor were a lie**

I pointed at the word **lie**.

He took longer to register it this time.

"Scott is lie?" said Lightning. "Lightnin thinks..."

"Lightnin thinks you gotta be jokin- -either that or you can't handle a whole can of VOOM!"

and he left before I could say try to say anything else, crushing the empty can against his head before running off.

The can made a hollow sound when it landed.

The batteries! They hadn't stopped working- they'd just slipped into a crevice in the groundwork of the first cave. If I could get down there I'd be able to retrieve them and fix everything- then we'd be able to phone in some help!

I was suddenly motivated- my lungs were clear, my eyes were sharp, my throat was ...still sore (and I don't think that drink helped much in that regard) but other than that, I was ready to do this. It wouldn't take too much out of me to get back up- Brick had laboriously fixed up the track again (though it didn't look like much was keeping it together) but that was one of the advantages of being lightweight. "Step small, walk tall" mom always said. And I knew if I just kept moving I'd be fine!

* * *

><p>MIKE<p>

Zoey didn't seem as thrilled about the whole idea as I thought she'd be...okay, she actually looked sorta sad. Maybe she thought we really were going to die in here, oh no- that was it- she thought I was never going to change- to be a real guy, the kind of guy she deserved. She walked ahead of me, with her arms pulled close to her like she was cold or something. Man, I wanted to hold her n and...I dunno warm her up a little.

But I knew it wouldn't make a difference as long as I was still...you know. She couldn't even look at me like this.

I was scared, like everything was going to be over but I thought, what would Cameron do?

I knew what I was going to do. I was going to find Scott and get that trigger word out of him no matter what it took (short of beating him up, of course).

"You wait here, Zoey-" I said suddenly. "I'm just going to uh- check that thing...in that place- with the rocks!" I improvised before running off down to the lower tunnels.

* * *

><p>ZOEY<p>

Mike ran off, probably to his exit route. I thought, kicking a stray pebble.

"What're you doin here?" came Anne Maria's voice before she stepped into the tunnel.

"You were right." I said bluntly.

"Yep." she said, folding her arms before adding, "Wait, what are we talkin about here?"

I couldn't stop myself- the next thing I knew there were tears running down my face and it felt like I'd swallowed a sting.

"Hey- hey- hey, none o dat." she said, pulling a tissue box out of her pouf.

"Hey, why'is there-" I started asking

"Doesn't matter." she said flatly. "The worst thing to do is let it get to ya- that just means he wins." she said wiping off the tears and taking out her compact to fix up my makeup.

"So when he went off with you he-"

"Tried to win me back, yep." she said simply. I felt the tiniest shred of hope in me wither and burn out like an ember.

"Don't worry, doll- the next time he sees you that jerk will cry his eyes out for playin you for a fool." she said, pulling the scrunchies out of my hair and teasing it out. Then she took out a can and started to spray. I backed away

"But I thought yours-"

"Mike got this one from outside." said Anne Maria, "Tried to bribe me with it- hold still!"

I ducked and narrowly missed a cloud of the stuff.

"Uh, I think we're good for the sprucing-" I said motioning for her to stop.

"He's probably off heading for his secret exit now anyways." I said bitterly.

"Ugh. Guys." said Anne Maria. We stood there looking down the tunnel for a moment before it hit us,

"Which way'd he go?" she asked quickly.

"Straight! Then he took a left!" I said, and we started down the tunnel as fast as we could.

* * *

><p>BRICK<p>

There was no sign of Scott's sharktooth back in the exit cave, and I turned the place upside down looking for it, when I did try to leave something from above caught my attention.

My dogtags- they were gone- they weren't up there anymore, but they weren't on the ground either.

They must've been taken down when Jo-

Jo! She took them down while she was up there, before we even started even, because they weren't there when we were moving the tree.

I didn't think, I headed down the track to the lake and past several tunnels, forgetting my mission to regroup with my hunt team. I didn't know where Jo was, where she'd gone to, but something was pulling me deeper down into the mine. My heart was beating with purpose so loud in my ears it was a wonder I heard something so soft.

The sound of a faint beep, followed by a sniff.

I looked into a small cave cramped with equipment. Jo was laying on a crate, setting and resetting her watch.

"What do you want." said Jo without looking up.

I held out the dog tags for her to see.

"What, is that why you followed me here?" she asked.

"I was worried about you." I answered truthfully.

Jo scoffed loudly.

"Why do you care?" she asked, sitting up. "You got what you wanted. You're the good guy and I'm the jerk, they're under your command now." she glared at me, she was unbelievable.

"You think that's what I wanted?" I asked, already getting frustrated. "To get everyone to follow me?"

"You said it, _Cap'n_!" she said with sarcasm.

"You want to know what I want?" I said getting closer.

"Yeah!" she shouted, getting up and returning my stare.

"What I _really _want?" I said. Now we were standing face to face the pressure building up to an intense degree.

"I just said yes, Brickhead what are you de-" Before she could finish I kissed her. Just shut the space between us and pressed my lips against hers hard enough to take her to the aching confirmation of this crazy feeling I'd kept jammed down for so long.

Well now it was exploding inside my chest like field-day-fireworks and all I wanted to do was just try to show her how I felt, to make her feel what I was feeling. For one short second I felt her give- before she pushed me away.

"You...don't like me." I said heavily.

"Of course I like you," she retorted.

"You're strong and determined and good ad honest and noble and _good looking_ and ...-you're not the sharpest hook on the shelf but -I figured you were smart enough to know I-" she stopped short and she flushed slightly,

"...that I like you."

"Don't pretend." she said, looking away.

"I know what you're after- and now you're finally Captain of Team Brick, better start making the T-shirts."

It was quiet for a moment. She looked back to me like she expected me to react.

"Why do you think everyone is after something?" I asked instead, "Is it cause of Spence?"

She whipped around.

"It's got nothing to do with him." she said. "You've got your code, I've got mine. After alot of B.S I figured out all about that 'friendship' you're always talking about. Well turns out it can break down pretty quickly once people get sight of what they really want. And once they do..." she stopped and kicked a hammer handle at the opposite wall.

"There are only weak people and people who'll do anything to win. You've got to keep your eye on the prize and not get distracted by-"

"-love?" I said defiantly. She turned and I flushed under the look she gave me- but I kept going.

"-by trusting someone? feeling like you're part of something bigger than you? Is there something wrong with that?" I asked. She said nothing.

"That's just some kind of game to you- to the big race for the win... you're willing to give all that up?"

"I've given up alot of things to be great. To show people that I'm..." she struggled with the words and pounded her fist into her palm. I flinched a bit because it was the injured one.

"-I need to fight that part of me- the weak part that wants me to fail, self sabotage, see?" she said. "I'm always fighting."

"No." I answered.

"No?" she asked.

"You're not fighting, Jo..you're running." She stared at me like I was insane.

"You've been treated wrong,I know. You were betrayed by someone you got close to and you never let yourself forget it. So you punish yourself over and over. You feel like you've got to be the best cause that's all you're worth. cause the real jo wasn't enough for your dad and wasn't enough to keep spence from..." her eyes widened for a second but then she looked away. "...from hurting you."

I wanted to go right over there and kiss her again almost as much as I wanted to give Spence a message he'd never forget. Instead I continued. It had to be said.

"-So you block out the real Jo and the one everyone gets to see is the Jo who treats people like they're expendable, just like Spence treated you. Pushing them around you're pushing them away so they never get close enough to stab you in the back."

"Where do you get off telling me I'm not one-hundred percent me one hundred percent of the time?" she said, folding her arms stubbornly. I couldn't help smile,

"The Jo I know, she's not like that, she's strong, the Jo who stepped off that boat looking ready for anything. The Jo who looked right at that obstacle course of doom and said 'is that it?' the Jo who even after all that talk about 'dead weight' pulled me out of that hole in the ground and snapped me out of my panic- who-..who made me want to do better."

She smiled. I don't think anybody else would have noticed it, but I sure did. I think it made me brave enough to reach out and put my hand on her shoulder.

"The Jo that wanted to get out of here for all of us- not just cause she had something to prove."

She looked away again, and said nothing.

"I mean, isn't that the reason?" I asked. She looked like she was thinking about something and then-

She kissed me. Pushed me against the wall, grabbed me by the hair and claimed me with her lips.

I used the hand she wasn't pinning to pull her closer, gripping her against me through the rough jersey knit and deepening the kiss with greater urgency than I could contain.

Just so darn _good_.

Midsections struggled in a battlefield of...just wanting, me wanting her so bad and her just taking me- and I liked it.

I nudged my face closer to hers and stroked her tongue with mine. It earned me a fierce tug harder against her.

There was a rush of heat up my neck and I knew I was blushing.

I brought my hand to her chin and brushed my thumb along her cheek. She ran her hand up my chest and the feeling was so strong my knees nearly gave.

And just like that she terminated the kiss, leaving me breathless and red-faced, and soreley missing the feel of her after she pulled away, looking at me with a satisfied smirk that had me ready for more.

"Well you're right about one thing," said Jo,

"Josephine Baker isn't heartless."

I leaned closer so her hand was on my chest again. For a moment I thought she'd take me again -but instead she tucked her hair behind her ear and headed for the tunnel. I unconsciously moaned in objection.

"Where are you going?" I asked. She turned around to face me.

"What's the hardest part of being a leader?" she asked. I knew that one by heart- I answered,

"Taking responsibility for the errors for those in your charge."

"Right, What's the hardest part of being a friend?" she asked. I got her meaning and said,

"Giving apology after you've wronged someone."

She smiled, cocked an eyebrow and said

"Then I'd say they're about the same thing."

"Come on, soldier." she said, signalling me to follow her out of the storage cave. "Apparently I've got something to prove."

* * *

><p>MIKE<p>

I started out walking with purpose but at some point I realised finding Scott would be alot harder than I thought- down here the tunnels were narrower, and at evey turn split into several more.

"Scott?" I callled into the thick darkness that surrounded me and my torch. There was no answer- not even my echo, it was like the emptiness swallowed every sound.

"Scott?" I tried again, louder this time." No answer again- but this time I heard a sound off in the distance- something like footsteps. I swung a left and picked up my pace.

"Where are- oh oops" I tripped and dropped my torch and the flame flickered, someone was breathing next to me.

I got up and braced it till the fire came back.

"- hey Scott is that-" I held up the torch and nearly dropped it again.

_Giant_

_Mutant_

_Mole_

Okay, don't panic Mike- don't panic, they can smell fear, stay in control- whatever you do, Mike- just. don't-

"**RRRRRUUUUUUHHHHHHHHHUUUUUUUA AAAAARRRRRRRR"**

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" I yelled, running in the other direction as fast as my legs could carry me.

It was galloping behind me at full speed and its breath was hot on my heels. I rounded several corners and I was pretty sure I lost it before it jumped out in front of me from a side tunnel.

"Ah!" I dived down a wooden stairway that led to a narrow tunnel.

"I think I can hear him this way-" I heard Zoey's voice and then saw her enter further down the tunnel.

"Stop right there, jerkface." said Anne Maria, stepping in front of me, when I didn't stop she said

"Hey what the-"

"Can't stop, big mole, huge mole!" I said, grabbing Zoey's hand. Anne Maria took out her compact and checked her reflection.

"What? I don't got a- oh." her eyes widened when the thing appeared at the end of the tunnel, rearing back its head and gnashing its large teeth. She dropped her compact.

"So, how come you saved my tags?" Asked Brick, striding down the path to the lake with Jo leading the way.

"Do we have to go over this again? I like you, okay?" said Jo.

"No, I mean- was it to return the favour?" persisted Brick.

"What favour? You mean for bandaging my wrist?" asked Jo.

"For bringing you back your whistle that time." said Brick, pointing at the whistle she wore around her neck.

"What?" said Jo, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, wait- forgot I gave it to Scott to give to you." said Brick, "I found it by the woods that morning after you went running early."

"Wait, wait- first of all I never took an early run- and second, Scott never gave me my whistle, I found it in that Dawn girl's bag of stolen loot. She must've nicked it off him." said Jo.

"She couldn't have. I gave it to him outside your cabin." stated Brick. Jo whipped around suddenly, eyes wide.

"Which means-" she said.

"Scott!" they said simultaneously.

Jo punched the wall.

"That lying scumbag! Wait till I get my hands on him-"

"He could have been lying all this time!" said Brick, stamping his boot.

"I knew it! Not rescuing Lightning from those scorpions..." said Brick, "But why?" he turned to Jo.

"He's got a way out." said Jo, eyes narrowed. Brick looked around.

"Well he can't be far, he's probably still waiting for me to get back from-" he smacked his forehead.

"What? What is it?" asked Jo.

"He tricked me into abandoning the team-" responded Brick, "which means..."

"-He's probably right there- at the exit!" said Jo, turning around.

"Come on, let's go show Dirtboy he just messed with the wrong team." said Jo, brandishing the torch and storming down the tunnel.

Brick took a moment to appreciate the word , then took his torch and surged forward.

* * *

><p>SCOTT<p>

After I got to Chris' Cabin I didn't look back. Looked like nobody was home. First thing I did was open the fridge and take everything that looked even sorta eatable and pile it up on the table.

Then I went into the living room and made myself nice an comfy. I kicked my muddy shoes off and took off my socks. The place already smelled like home.

Switched on the TV and took a swig of coke.

It looked like the news, boring. I was about to switch the channel when I heard Chris' voice.

I nearly choked on my soda.

It was the show- this show and Chris was in a helicopter over the island. I looked out the window and there it was.

Note to self, when you're a millionaire, get one o those in blue.

"If you liked Total Drama Revenge of the Island-"

"-or if you didn't," added Blaineley.

"You're gonna love Total Drama Revenge of the ForeverMine, the reality show where they don't know!"

"T.D.R.O.T.F.M takes us into the deepest darkest pits- of teenage desperation! And shows us just what happens when you take eight unsuspecting teenagers and trap them in an abandoned mine, jam packed with mutant monsters and fake toxic waste."

"-they think they've been deserted on an island, but what they don't know is we've hooked the place up with enough cameras and microphones."

"So you don't miss one disgusting, terrifying or embarassing minute." finished Chris emphatically.

"Let's see what's going on right now." said Blaineley, before the screen cut to a shot of the inside of the mine. Zoey, Anne Maria and the Spazz were being chased by two giant mutant moles- and one small one. _Josephine_ and Brick were making out- with their torhces dropped on the ground. And Sparky- he was walkin around like he was lost or something and he was eating some of those bats on a stick.

He kept tripping cause of his bad knee, what kind of sicko would wanna watch this stuff.

Oh dangit, I was outta popcorn.

The little guy was reaching down that crack in the ground to get at his pills or something. Then the guy just cawled right in! Desperate was right- it was okay though. If he was tryina find the batteries they wouldn't work on the ePhone after I busted it up- if he was goin for his meds, well I knew he wouldn't get to em cause I found the bottle lyin on the ground next to my exit tunnel.

wait a sec...

I dropped the popcorn bowl.

"...Oh crap."

* * *

><p>CAMERON<p>

The crevice had only widened since the explosion, now it was within my ability to drop into it. And it sure was a drop, I landed on my feet but my knees knocked together and I fell. I was in some kind of pit. I looked up. Right, well maybe jumping down here without a rope or any means of climbing up wasn't one of my best ideas. It felt like the VOOM was making me act faster than I thought. Hey! One of the batteries was right there! I picked it up and pocketed it.

But where was the other one? I looked around. Anne Maria's diamond was still here from when Lightning had used it as a football. There were walls all around and one big stalagmite, then there was a tunnel opening. I looked inside. It seemed to be downward-sloping, so it was likeley the second one had rolled. There weren't any loose stones to kick so I tossed the diamond down. It just kept rolling for almost a minute before- actually, I wasn't so sure if it was a stop or a drop- so the tunnel might have a dead end. It didn't matter. I felt...what was the word?_ Pumped!_ I could take anything that came my way!

Well, there was only one way to go.

* * *

><p>JO<p>

Brickhouse and me were heading down the mine and I was just thinking. After all this time thinking the cadet wanted me off the team he just wanted ...me I guess- I know, right? We were hurrying and I looked back at him- he was marching. I dug that about him, he looked like he was ready for anything- like he'd take some names and watch my back. Speaking of which I did catch him looking over at me a few times. It was a good thing I was going faster than him- he couldn't see me smiling like this. It just wouldn't quit, my heart was beating fast enough to win gold. Man, was I sunk for him or what.

We looked at eachother at the same time and he looked away. He was grinning too. He charged ahead and I picked up the pace without going past- I was kinda enjoying the view.

**CRASH**

Whe whipped around. A gigantic mole beast hit the wall after rounding a corner. It shook it off before fixing its yellow eyes on us.

We bolted so fast down that tunnel we almost ran into the lake.

"Wait, Jo- what if it hates water?" asked Brick, turning to me.

The beast entered the cave and immediately singled us out.

"Worth a shot!" I said, and we took a dive.

We were halfway across when the stupid thing took a running jump into the water, making it splash everywhere. It disappeared under the surface- where'd it go?

Brick climbed onto a rock and held out his hand for me.

God, even at a time like this.

**RRRRRUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH**

it reared its ugly head right under us and we had to head for the slopes.

"Jump!" I shouted- it got up onto the rock behind clambered up to the top and and reached for the tracks. Brick had trouble pulling up- I looked down and his boot was caught-

"Jo, it's got me- let go!" said Brick- looking down. The beast had him by the foot- it was gripping it between its teeth.

"Quick- it's taking me down." shouted Brick, he was trying hard to grip the track but it kept tugging him violently, and each time his hands slipped more.

"Not on my watch!"

I held onto his wrists and gave one more pull.

He winced as the boot came off, along with some of his skin. The beast landed back on the rock

"Gah!" he shouted, landing on top of me he rested his head before getting up to standing. There was blood on his ankle.

We started heading up the track with his arm slung over my shoulder- the beast was growling beneath us and running in circles.

"We can't leave the others behind -" said Brick between clenched teeth, "with that thing down there."

"We have to." I said.

"What? Jo, how can you-"

"No, I mean we have to leave them behind-" I said, pointing at the creature- that had taken a running jump up into the track tunnel, right under us. "Cause now it's up here!"

* * *

><p>ANNE MARIA<p>

The thing chased us into dis huge circle-shaped cave with a low ceilin. We were all backed up against the wall when it locked onto us. It looked like it was sizin us up to eat us and from the look o those teeth I could tell they'd be a real pain in the neck. I nearly tripped. I had enough.

"Jeez louise these heels are gonna _kill_ me!" I shouted, takin it off and throwin it across the room. It hit the mole thing right between the eyes and it made this high pitched sound before bitin the air and rushin at me. Quick as I could I took off the other one and threw it. Bam- right in the kisser. I hate to break a streak- I started tossing everything I could pick up.

**Bam!**

_RRRRRRR_

**Thud!**

_Hurk!_

**Thwack!**

_eiii eii eii_

"Ha ha! Take that, ya jerk!" I catcalled, hittin it with another rock, a big one.

"Uh, Anne Maria" said Zoey, tapping me on the shoulder,

"Yea, what is it?" I asked, not taking my eye off the thing.

"I think the jerk invited friends." said Mike, pointing at the cave entrance- where there was another mole along with the little one.

"Damnit- shoulda eaten you when I had the chance." I said.

"Huh?" said zoey.

"Nevermind." I said.

It headed straight for Zoey and Mike wasn't gonna let that happen apparently cause he stood in its way.

"Mike!"

"Zoey, I need to do this."

The mutant thing started windin an turnin around the stalag- stalac- the big spikes on the ground, but it was comin at us faster and faster.

"No, you don't-" I said, rolling my eyes- I picked up this huge rock and swung it over at the thing. Instant miss.

"Uh, actually you can go ahead." I told him, and I hid behind him.

The thing was almost right up to us after turn

Wait a second... I thoughta somethin that just might work.

I took out my hairspray can.

"Now? Really?" said Mike.

I grabbed the torch and swiped the can through it- the label burned off and the nozzle melted- then I tossed it over at the things feet.

The can made a hissing sound- then it spun itself around an around while the hot spray came out -then- **BOOM!**

It exploded and blasted the big pig up into the air and back on the ground- where it landed flat on its back- it was out- i think. Yeah, it was out.

"How'd you think of that?" asked Zoey reliefully.

"You kidding? Ever left a hairdryer on next to one o those things?"

By this time the other one was already shakin off the headache I gave it.

"Okay, I'm out of ideas." I said, lookin around. "And stuff to throw."

I was already right at us and ready to strike. This was it.

"Run!" said Zoey, and swe scattered over behind the body of the other one. The bigger one turned all of a sudden short of the wall and started chasin after us. Mike stood up and held out the torch at it- for some reason the thing stopped watchin it and Mike waved the fie back and forth.

"_You are getting very ...not hungry._" said Mike.

Then the thing sneezed and the fire went out.

**RRRRAAAAAGHHHHHHHHHHH**

We split up running like nobody's business and headed in opposite driections. Zoey climbed up a couple o crates and clungto the wall behind her. It only made the thing lock onto her and get up on its back legs to try and reach her- snappin its tusks at her feet. Man was she in a bad spot.

"Zoey!" shouted Mike- he looked like he was about to lose his lunch. Then his face set and he ran up to the other wall and grabbed the small one- it squealed and tried to bite him -and that made the big one look around at him and growl.

He ran across the cave and shouted, "Hey, over here!"

It pawed the ground and ran at him top speed. He picked up the blanket and swooped it in front of himself.

What the heck- this was no time to play superhero- maybe he really was nuts.

But when it got near to him he disappeared - the thing charged right through the cloth and behind it was the cave exit- before it could stop itself it hit the wall of the tunnel head first- Mike stepped in over the body - he was out in the tunnel so I figured he musta ducked and sidestepped so quick you could blink and miss it.

* * *

><p>MIKE<p>

We'd just had a close scrape with death by mole-mauling and I stayed in control the whole time- it was crazy. Maybe it was because of how fast everything was happening, but maybe it was Zoey, wanting to stop her getting hurt and knowing that I could do it better than any of my alternates. I couldn't leave her life in their hands.

After running over to Zoey I caught her and hugged her tight.

"Zoey- I'm so-"

"Me too" she said, looking up at me brightly. Then she kissed me lightly on the lips and I swayed dizzily on my feet. I nudged mine back to hers and I cupped her face in my hands but Anne Maria spoke and we pulled apart.

"Geez-" she said, standing next to the collapsed body of the giant mole. She picked up its leg and let it drop- it was definitely out.

"You really are nuts."

"Hey, take that back!" said Zoey in my defence.

"Ah, its okay -alot of people don't really get the whole MPD thing right away." I said plainly.

All she did was stare at me.

"What?" she said.

"Guess I should've been the one to tell you myself 'stead of Zoey."

"I didnt tell her anything about your MPD..." said Zoey, looking at me questioningly.

"But I thought you-" I started

"no, I didnt-" she said again.

"Well thats what Scott said.." I explained.

"What _else_ did he say?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"He said he could help me get over my MPD- permanently." I said. It sounded stupid now- I suddenly felt like a kid who was staying up for Santa.

"Could ya just quit usin that word without sayin what it is already-" said Anne Maria, annoyed, "-you're givin me a headache."

"MPD spells Multiple Personality Disorder- which...well it spells alot of trouble for me -but mainly it's the reason sometimes I'm Mike- and other times I'm somebody else even when I don't want to be." I said.

Anne Maria stared at me a second.

"So...you're sayin when you do that Chester an Svetlana an Vito thing it's not an all just some act?"

"Yeah..." I said.

"So you're not doin it _on purpose_?" she said, looking at me closely, "Like, right now this is-"

"The real me." I said. "The others are just projections that take over sometimes."

"And what about Vito," she said, angry all of a sudden, "you expect me to believe he's just some guy in your head? Some kinda figment o your imagination?"

"Well...yes- but once I learn how to deal with my MPD, he won't be there anymore." I said, a bit uncomfortable under the stare she was fixing me with. She searched me for a second before turning away.

"Well if what you're sayin is the truth." she said, stressing the word 'if'. She turned her back on me with her arms crossed, staring at the ground- I couldn't tell if she was still angry but when she spoke again it was almost too low to hear.

"tell Vito I said...seeya around."

I almost corrected her-I'd basically told her that Vito wasn't real- and that soon he'd be gone forever- but I stopped myself.

See you around?

I wondered what she meant.

* * *

><p>BRICK<p>

Jo and I ran down the track with the mole right beneath us, lunging at us. My ankle was cut up- but I wasn't going to let it stop me. The track and the track tunnel started to merge and it was almost on level with us.

We dived into the main cave but it was right behind.

There were broken crates everywhere- no planks big enough to use against it. We were standing back to back when it appeared at the entrance.

"Any ideas Ma'am?" I asked Jo.

"Piss, Brick! Piss for your life!" she said. I gave her a look.

"Sorry," she said, "couldn't resist."

I edged backwards,out of the light. Trying not to make a sound. Without our torches the place was dark except for where the light came in from above and the mole's giant yellow eyes. It was sniffing around by the crevice in the ground.

I realised I was bracing Jo with my arm. I guess I couldn't resist.

There was a sound from under the ground.

"Who's up there Mike, is that you?" asked what I recognised to be Cameron's voice.

The creature started clawing at the ground and digging where Cameron was.

I had to step in.

"Hey Tiny- fight fair or not at all." shouted Jo, stepping out into the light.

It was so great to see finally see Jo this way- I felt proud of her- and let's just say there was a part of me that was definitely at attention.

It whipped around and darted directly at us. Jo pulled me behind an overturned crate and we ducked- it jumped clean over us and landed on its feet.

I thought fast- I think Jo got the same idea- we grabbed the cart and flipped it over with effort- it was hard on Jo's hand because she winced and bit her lip to stop from crying out.

Right then the giant mole swerved but bumped into it, but we were not quick enough and it wasn't much of a critical hit.

All we did was make it angry.

It thumped the ground and came right back at us.

"Brick, get the cart-" she said, pointing across the cave at another one. I ran over to it while she leaned the cart sideways- the mole ramming into it over and over undeterred.

When I got to the cart she called over to me, "Push it over here- on my command-"

I nodded. But it was really hard to stand there just watching her take the shock- the force of its weight.

What was she planning to do?

She answered my question by dropping the cart onto its wheels right when the mole was about to launch itself at her again.

It reared back as the cart hit the ground- but Jo didn't look unphased- maybe she was thinking of something else.

"Now!" she shouted and I pushed the cart across to her- at the same time she heaved her cart up again.

It was right about to take a final shove at her when it heard the cart rattling towards it from behind- it turned, but not in time and the cart jammed right into it. At the same time Jo pushed her cart so it landed heavily on top of it.

We waited for a moment but it didn't move.

It was unconscious.

"What just happened?" came Cameron's voice again.

"Just one of those moles from before." said Jo, "You should've seen it- hey, why are you down there?"

"Retrieving the batteries for the ePhone!" said Cameron excitedly, "I've already found one!"

"Do you need help getting out?" I asked, kneeling next to the hole in the ground.

"Eventually- yes!" he said, but he still sounded happy.

"Wait, if this one got to us, the others might still be in trouble-" said Jo over my shoulder.

"You're right-" I said, "Cameron, can you sit tight until we get back?" I called out to him.

"I'll be fine- I'm going to get the ePhone on- we're getting out!" he replied.

I looked at Jo and she nodded- we headed for the tracks.

* * *

><p>SCOTT<p>

When I got back to the mine I went straight for the main cave- by now I knew the lower tunnels better than anyone- but it was still a relief to get past Team Lightning.

I never ran so fast in my life- I knew what was at stake, the million, the money and the cash too. I could just picture the look on my dad's face if I came home with diddly squat.

I grabbed a splint from what was left of Jersey Chick's bonfire and barely noticed how hot the unburned end was. I was a streak of orange till I finally got to the main cave. I was wiping the dead bugs off my face (I went through a swarm at some point) when I saw one of those giant mole things- thankfully it was dead- or asleep, it turned out you could never be too careful about that.

My eyes locked on the crack in the floor. I could just barely hear him there, humming or something. His voice got fainter and fainter as he moved further into the mine.

I took my secret weapon out of my back pocket- it was the last stick o dynamite from Chef's stash. That'd stop him from gettin to my exit. Even if it didn't make that escape hatch cave in- ne look at that splodey stick and he'd be climbin back up so fast his glasses'd fuse with his face.

I lit it up- the fire was nice to look at- mom used to cook over a flame-broiling stove but dad mostly cooked over an engine.

The dynamite sizzled and I tossed it down the hatch.

I blew out the splint and dropped it.

The giant thing growled in its sleep- I decided it was time to split.

* * *

><p>CAMERON<p>

I heard a sound from above- like footsteps or something- I tried to say "Who's there?" but my voice was failing and I started to feel weak- the effects of the energy drink were quickly subsiding.

I pressed on, only now realising the extent of this tunnel- which was getting narrower and narrower with every step. It was getting hard to breath- any opening was out of sight and it was pitch dark- my head grazed the ceiling and I knew this was it, I would have to crawl from here.

But before I got down I saw something- something bright flitted down the tunnel ahead of me- I crawled towards it but I immediately discovered that was a big mistake.

It was dynamite!

* * *

><p>LIGHTNING<p>

"There you are, dude!" said Lightning, walkin up to him.

"Yeah... I was just checkin on the little guy." he said.

"Oh yeah? well how was he doin?" asked the Lightnin

"Doin great- just layin around you know sick and all... I helped warm him up." he said, lookin around. Wait a second, wasn't the little dude sweatin when Lightnin was there? Somethin wasn't addin up here.

"Warm up?" asked Lightnin.

"Yeah...-actually he said I should go get summore wood for the fire aand that's what I'm doing." okay, things were really startin to not make sense to Lightnin- why would he ask for fire- fire's hot! Lightnin has learned that the hard way! And how would No Voice Charades Talkin dude say anythin at all?

"He said that?" asked Lightning.

"Yup." said Scott, tryina sidestep the Lightning and go on his way. Lightnin stopped him.

"with his voice?" asked Lightnin again.

"Uh...yeah?" he said, raisin an eyebrow. "I'm gonna go but you stay here alright-" said Scott- tryin to pass Lightnin again.

Why did he look so shifty- he kept shiftin his weigh from one leg to the other-

"What about your knee, dude?" asked Lightnin.

"Oh it still hurts-" said Scott grabbin his left leg and makin a face. "But I'm just gonna walk it off-" and he tried headin off again. This time Lightnin stuck out his arm and blocked him. He pushed him in front of him and spoke to him face to face.

"No you ain't." said Lightnin.

"Lightnin knows youre up to somethin. Glasses Dude was right about you. You're a _lie_!"

"What are you talkin about bro?" he said, laughin nervous-like.

I squinted at him. It was like Lightnin was seein him clearly for the first time. And Lightnin did not like what he saw.

"I am **not** your bro, _bro_."

Then Lightnin dropped him and shouted

"You lied about the _gold_, you lied about the _demons_- you lied about the _fish_!"

"No I didn't-" said Scott, Lightnin yelled, "you're lyin right now!"

Lightnin was so angry- but also sad, Lightnin needed to punch out his feelins before he did somethin stupid. Scott was tyina creep away again but Lightnin backed him up to the wall.

"Lightnin was talkin earlier about Ryan Steeple- did Lightnin forget to mention what Lightnin does to limp-fakin liars?" said Lightnin slowly.

"Uh, give them a speech about honesty?" asked Scott.

"_Wrong answer_." said Lightnin, grabbin him by the shirt.

* * *

><p>"What else you been lyin about? Don't lie to me, else you'll get struck by the Lightning!"<p>

"Ack- nothing, I swear!" said Scott receiving a punch in the ribs.

"Ey-whats goin on ova here?" asked Anne Maria, appearing out of another tunnel with Zoey and Mike.

"Dude is lyin' the Lightnin!" he yelled dramatically.

When nobody said anything but aimed pointed glares at Scott Lighting asked,

"You guys knew too? Man the Lightnin's been straight-up be-trayed!"

"He lied to everyone, you ain't special." said Anne Maria.

"Where's Cameron?" asked Zoey.

"He's in the crack in the ground upstairs." said Scott, pointing upwards. "That's all you're getting out of me."

"You wanna bet?" asked Anne Maria, threateningly swinging around her high heel shoes that were laced together.

"Okay okay- there's also...dynamite." said Scott.

* * *

><p><strong>Mr. Rohke.<strong>

It was high noon. Everything was going as planned. At 11:45 the blackbird was ready and running.

The camera equipment was eady to shoot the intro for this last episode The Reveal.

Also reading was the magnetic tape eraser magnet in my pocket. There wouldn't be a scrap of evidence once the plan went through.

Once I pushed those two egotistical ignoramuses out of the helicopter cabin they'd land on that mine. It'd be easy now their attentions were on eachother, Blaineley would be trying to push Chris out of a moving copter and as I heard from well, close observation Chris would be planning the same thing.

But the landing wouldn't be just career ending, once the bomb box went off the entire mine would be blown to bits, leaving the much more precious oil reserves beneath just a drillbit away from my grasp.

From a little coalmine operation had sprung forth such a vast supply of wealth, but as it was now I'd never be able to mine.

Imagine my chagrin when they told me I couldn't drill for oil on protected state lands. Imagine the hours I spent pacing my office room and poring over for legal loopholes. They told me that it'd be too much of a drag on the environment. Well, I don't take rejection very well. For a while it seemed I wouldn't have a chance until a Mr. Mclean fell into some pirate cash and was allowed to rent the land for his pathetic little show on the condition he not cause significant harm to local wildlife.

Well as soon as I realised Chris McLean was not the type who put preservation over profit, after he let me dump a couple hundred metrics of nuke waste for chump change.

The next step was getting an inside intern to unknowingly set up a chain of bombs throughout the mine (along with the special recording equipment that Blaineley's cohost contract promised) all ready to detonate at 12:31.

The mine would be destroyed, yes...along with the teenagers (an unfortunate loss for an incomparable gain).

McLean, O'Halloran and the Chef would also find their ends.

That one intern would also have to go. There could be no survivors, no, it wasn't a matter or witnesses (cause I'd just tell the courts the explosion had been an unhappy accident, probably the result of teenage hijinx, ten year old explosives and oil barrels.

The ownership would then slip from the unmoving hands of Chris McLean to one of his shareholders, none other than hotel tycoon Dean Milton, who'd given McLean a sizeable payoff to accept his daughter's audition late. I used to know Milton well,he used to be a real game player, but then he had a kid, and kids make you go soft. But after a few knots in the plan earlier I'd set him straight. Next he'd hand the useless land over to me and it'd finally be mine again.

_All mine_.

As the CEA would by that time have received my envelope of photos and samples showing the leevel of damage to the environment Chris had caused, they'd already be declaring the land 'a virtual wasteland' no longer under the environmental preservation act, and it could be fully exploited, a multimillion oil operation, it'd be the shiny black gem on my chain of business.

And now it was time. I stepped in. The other two were stalling, I could tell. Chris was so distracted he didn't realised he'd checked and rechecked the equipment list a dozen times. Blaineley had pinned her microphone to her hair. They kept looking over at eachother when they thought the other couldn't see. This was going to be interested.

Chef buckled up and flicked some switches on the dashboard.

"Ready to go." he said, grabbing the steering jack. I stepped in. Chris nodded gravely and Blaineley followed him into the helicopter before we rose into the sky.

* * *

><p>CAMERON<p>

The energy had drained out of me so completely that I could barely even form the words, though with the pain in my throat I knew it would be futile anyways. It was like I'd swallowed a crude mix of sand and petrol.

I tried to blow on the wick of the dynamite until it stopped sparking, but every time it went out sure as anything it'd be up and burning within seconds. This must've been old dynamite- that wasn't good. Old, explosive and unpredictable. Even if I did manage to blow it out it could still explode anyways. There was nothing to do but try to escape. I thought of going all the way down but I had no idea what was at the end of this tunnel, and then when it blew up and caved in I'd be stuck in the capped-off crevice. I tried turning around to go back up but there wasn't enough room. Gathering the last of my stength I started to crawl backwards in the suffocating darkness. It seemed to go on for hours but I knew it had only been a few minutes of struggle- with the knowledge that every moment was crucial. Then there was a voice.

"Cameron, are you there?" asked the voice that I guessed was Zoey's. It was distant but it was reassuring.

I couldn't reply of course so I tapped the side of the tunnel till my knuckles were sore.

* * *

><p>"He can hear us, he just can't talk." said Zoey to the others. She'd tried dropping the tin-can telephone down the crack but there was no Cameron there to receive. They figured he was wayy deeper down.<p>

"Why's he tapping so much?" asked Mike.

"I dunno, maybe you should ask the stick of dynamite he's got with him" said Jo, rolling her eyes.

"Wait a second- that's morse-code-" said Brick.

"Alright Brickhouse!" said Jo, "What's he saying?"

"He's saying...he's stuck...stuck in a downwards-sloping tunnel- explosives...do not pursue do not follow."

"Well there's got to be some way to get him outta there-" said Anne Maria, "Or kablooey!"

"We could grease the tunnel with oil- tie some string to him and you know, pull him out?" suggested Zoey.

"We could send Freckleface to go get his pickaxe and _mine_ him out." said Jo, eyeing Scott.

"Or- we could just use water." said Brick with a shrug "That'd put out the dynamite."

"That works!" said Jo, getting up and heading for the tracks-

"Hang on, Cameron!" said Zoey

"Don't die, small dude!" yelled Lightning.

* * *

><p>Above the mine, the blackbird circled the sky. Blades chopped violently at the air. Four people went up- one was going down.<p>

Chris and Blaineley stood on the edge of the heli cabin, trying to look at the camera instead of behind them, at the distance that separated them from the ground.

"And there it is- the abandoned mine where our eight unlucky teens have been for the last five days." said Blaineley, she was smiling broadly but she kept blinking distractedly- trying not to look at Chris.

"Let's drop in and give em the news-" said McLean, choking on the word 'drop' "that not only was the setup fake- but everything they've done since then has been recorded and will be premiering in front of a seventy million viewer audience- that's global, people!"

said Chris laughing a little too loudly.

"Chef, take us down" said Chris- his smile stiffening.

Chef pulled a lever and steered the helicopter lower. Mr. Rohke prepared to make the final push- and then to take care of the Chef with one of his own darts. His gun weighed heavily in his right boot.

The mine was directly below them now.

The time was 12:29.

The two of them froze. Nobody remembered whose line it was- for a second they did nothing- then they took action. Chris closed his eyes Blaineley closed hers. When nothing happened they opened them and looked at eachother. For one giddy moment they were relieved to see eachother still standing there- until Chris noticed Blaineley's foot hooked around his and she saw his hand ready to shove her from the side.

"You-" they said at the same time, accusatory and hurt.

"No, you." said Mr. Rohke, giving them both a two armed shove over the edge. They flailey helplessly for a moment before falling backwards through the air.

Chef whipped around in shock, but he was too slow for Wrohke's quick finger. He was hit in the neck by a stinging tranq dart and was out.

"I'd like to stick around, but I won't be." said the man, opening the side door and hauling Chef's stiff body out of the open window.

He got into the seat, slammed the door and flew off.

Everything was according to plan

It was 12:30.

* * *

><p>Jo came back with a couple empty cans full of water piled up in her arms.<p>

She bent over and emptied them all down the hatch- taking a bottle of water out of her hoodie and pouring it out as well.

There was tapping from Cameron

"Dynamite was old- it was lightweight- floated all the way down the tunnel- out of sight." said Brick, translating.

"So do we start plan dig-him-out yet?" asked Jo.

"That will take too long- There's got to be another way to get him out." said Brick seriously.

"Hey Cameron, is there an opening at the other end?" asked Mike.

There was some more tapping, weaker this time.

"He says he can't see- it's too dark down there." said Brick.

Jo grabbed the flashlight and threw it down the crack.

"Did you get it?" she called out.

taptap-tap

"He says 'ow'" said Brick.

"What, no thank you?" said Jo crossing her arms.

"Can't tell- reflection of diamond."

"Dis is no time for bein a poet, kid-" said Anne Maria, "Wait- you don't mean _my_ diamond, do ya?"

"But where does it lead?" asked Jo, looking around to the tracks-where Scott was attempting a discreet exit.

"You know something, Farm Boy." said Jo- storming over to Scott so fast he keeled over backwards into a cart.

"And you're not getting out of here in one piece til you spill the beans."

Scott hesitated- but the fist that Jo held to his chin made a very convincing argument. Besides, something he'd seen on TV that day gave him an idea.

* * *

><p>CAMERON<p>

It was dark in here, dark and close and fraught with gaps and holes-it was like being in a giant suffocating solid sponge.

I could only try to edge myself loose- but every move was becoming agony. It felt like my blood had thinned to water and my bones had gone brittle- like some kind of delicious peanut-and nougat based confectionery.

I was starving too- I didn't know if it was just my eyes getting tired or the flashlight was dimming- but everything started to go black.

With Scott's direction they hurried to pull Cameron out before he was blown to bits. He seemed to know the tunnel system better than the others and he took them deeper and deeper down- although Jo would have usually outstripped him in a race even she found it hard to keep up with his constant switching of direction. Brick didn't trust him being ahead- it meant he could try to make a break for it- so he made sure to keep him constantly in sight.

Suddenly he stopped.

A part of the mine none of them had been in yet- there was water all over the ground- in the corner was a battery and a bottle of medicine.

Scott pointed lazily at a hole near the ceiling- it was jammed by Anne Maria's diamond.

There was a fractured light on the other side of it- whether from the flashlight or the dynamite they couldn't tell- there was no time to lose.

Brick grabbed the pickaxe and started digging at the wedge between rock and diamond- it wouldn't move.

"You've got to try to break it!" said Zoey.

But pounding it with the axe only drove it in more tightly.

"Around it- dig around it- so it'll come loose!" said Mike.

He started chipping away at the edges with his axe. All of their eyes were fixed on this- not one of them noticed Scott slip away.

Through the fog I heard voices ahead of me- but then I heard something behind- Something dropped into the tunnel from one of those holes and started rolling down- I knew a thing or two about resistance-and I knew my body wouldn't make for much of it. The rolling became louder and closer-

My head and chest were locked in place but I took one painfull breath and summed up all my remaining strength to struggle free.

It didn't work- It was seconds to impact and I shut my eyes.

Brick had almost got the fake rock free when the tunnel erupted with a crash- sending the diamond shooting at the opposite wall and the contents of the tunnel landing heavily on the ground- The diamond was on top of Brick- but something was holding onto it- it was...Ezekiel.

Ezekiel shook off the crash and then hissed at Brick before snatching the diamond away and clinging to it protectively.

"What the-" said Lightning.

Across from them something coughed- Cameron had landed on his back after being forced out of the tunnel by the furious impact of a raging homeschooled teenager-turned-mole king.

Mike rushed over to him,

"Speak to me, buddy!" he said- but Cameron was out like a light.

They suddenly noticed a light coming from just outside the cave opening- the kind of light that came from outside. They all fell quiet- a beckoning wind flooded in around their feet.

Then there was the sound of a faint sizzling echoing off the walls

"Where'd the dynamite go?" asked Jo suddenly.

They started looking around- but something flashed past the cave opening- it was Scott- he was holding a squealing mini-mole and he released it from his grip so that it flung across the room at them wailing at an ear-splitting pitch.

"See ya later, suckers." said Scott, running for the exit. But the exit was sealed off with concrete- it was the end of the road for him.

Lightning had barely taken a step in his direction when the opening was blocked by a massive wall of pink with teeth.

_**RRRRRRRRUAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH**_

It growled before pouncing into the cave. Ezekiel suddenly rolled onto his feet and jumped onto its back- causing it to charge blindly- it ran in circles making them scatter before it slammed Mike roughly into the wall. It pulled back and he slid down to the ground- it was ready for another crushing blow when it turned around- Zoey was hitting it repeatedly with the end of a pickaxe.

"That-Wasn't-Very-Nice!" she shouted in between hits.

It turned on her suddenly.

"Um...but that's just my opinion?" said a wide-eyed Zoey- backing up as it advanced towards her.

"Give me a boost-" said Jo. Brick crossed his forearms so that Jo could get onto them like a platform. His arms heaved upwards while Jo took a flying jump- tumbling onto the back of the Mole next to a startled Ezekiel who hissed before being pushed off. Jo took hold of the ears of the beast and pulled hard. It reared upwards and Zoey ran out from under it- just then Lightning pushed over two barrels and kicked them over to the giant mole-which landed with its front paw on one and its hind leg on the other- causing them to roll in opposite directions- bringing it to crash land on its belly, head-forwards.

Something rolled out from behind it- a red something that had a strong flame burning dangerously near to its end.

"Come on- let's get out of here! Go! Go! Go!" shouted Jo, jumping off of the beast and running out of the cave just as the giant mole started getting up.

Lightning raced out and Brick picked up Cameron, slinging him over his shoulder fireman-style.

The beast got up and growled so loudly the ceiling shook. Anne Maria made a dash to the cave opening, almost tripping over the overturned barrel. Zoey helped Mike to his feet and urged him to the exit- then,

*****BOOOM!*****

Fragments of rock hurtled through the air so fast they hit skin like hail, boulders were blasted to bits and the walls collapsed-

It took a minute for the dust to clear.

* * *

><p>Mr. Rohke<p>

By my watch it was 12:32- then why were there no fireworks- it looked like just a part of the mine was blown up- and now the exit was open again. What was going on?

I steered the blackbird lower, to investigate- but the craft was unstable-

Those morons must've banged up the landing leg on the way down.

I switched on the autopilot button and walked over to the deck.

A hand grabbed my ankle- I was looking down at the face of Chris McLean.

"You see, this is why I wear sandals-" He winked at me before yanking my boot- which slipped off the deck and into the air- my arm swung out and clutched at nothing- I grabbed one side of the door and managed to steady myself when I was pulled down sharply by the tip of my hat.

"And that- is why I don't wear one of these." said Chris before I keeled headfirst off the deck and through the air.

"Plus I can't let anything obscure the_ hunkliness_." said Chris, climbing up onto the deck and holding out a hand for Blaineley, who was still on the rope ladder.

She didn't take it- and he remembered why.

"You were going to push me off." said Blaineley.

"So were you!" said Chris incredulously.

"...good point." she said, sticking out her hand for him to pull her up.

They stood in the cabin for a moment. It was silent. Then the words came pouring out;

"It was just-" started Blaineley

"-show business, yeah! You know how it's always"

"it's just a cut-throat industry and-" said Blaineley

"I had to-"

"yeah until-"

"-but then I"

"I didn't want to-"

"-just"

Neither of them could think of what to say and for a moment they just stared wordlessly into eachother's eyes before kissing furiously for one long swooning moment.

They broke apart suddenly- and Chris took a moment to regain his composure before offering his hand in way of official handshake.

"So...how do you feel about a _new_ contract?"

Blaineley was curious,

"What kind of contract? A co-production or a standard partnership?" she asked.

"Mmaybe a little of _both_?" said Chris, grinning.

"I'll have my people call your people." said Blaineley, shaking his hand. Their hands lingered before separating and Chris glanced at her cherry-red lips for a second.

Chris slid into the pilot's seat and grabbed the wheel. Blaineley buckled up in the seat next to him.

"Where are we going?" she asked kicking her heels up onto the dashboard and leaning back.

"We could ditch the losers for a while, maybe hit a couple premiere parties in the land of faame?" said Chris, hunched over the steering wheel.

"Toronto?" she asked.

"Yep!" said Chris.

"Or New York." she suggested.

"Maybe!" he replied, grinning.

"Hollywood?" she questioned, turning to him.

"Sure-" said a too-confident McLean.

Blaineley looked at him before saying flatly,

"You have no idea how to fly this thing, do you."

"Nope!"

Coughing and blinking they stepped out. Out of the mine. When the dust cleared away, the first thing that hit them was

"Sunlight!" Oh yeah, that's what I'm talkin about, If anybody needs me i'll be catchin some zs, hello!" said Anne Maria, strutting off to the beach.

"You can hear everything, the birds, the trees, the bird-tree mutant hybrids..." she noted a strange-looking tree with a beak -"everything's just so-"

"-Perfect, yeah..." said Mike looking misty-eyed at Zoey before being thwacked in the head by Lightning's outstetched arms

"Sha-Freedom! Point me the way to the nearest meatsource -and Lightnin will go for it!" yelled Lightning, looking around.

Scott picked himself up and pointed across the woods.

"Pfft, I don't need your help, Sha-traitor, Lightnin can find the goods on his own!" said Lightning, heading across the beach in the opposite direction.

"But the kitchen's that way-" he started, then he dropped it. "Ugh. Finally I can get away from the rest of you." And with that he stormed off.

"Fresh air, truly invigorating..." said Cameron, coming to. Brick swung him back onto his feet and Mike gave him a steadying hand.

"It's just nice to be on good solid ground again." said Brick, stomping with his one boot.

"Terra firma!" said Cameron enthusiastically.

"That too!" said Brick, smiling into the sunshine- he turned around- "Hey- Jo, I knew we'd get out, it was just a matter of-" all he saw was the grey streak that was Jo, running off into the distance.

I guessed what she missed was going solo. he thought- staring after her.

Scott was nowhere to be seen.

* * *

><p>JO<p>

I was leaning on a tree next to the lake. I'd already checked the numbers and now I was just looking at the lake.

"What are you doing?" asked Brick out of the blue. How long had he been standing there?

"I'm just checkin the time." I said, not wanting to let on too much.

"Oh" he said. He let it drop, but I didn't want him to confuse the lack of detail with dishonesty, so I told.

* * *

><p>BRICK<p>

"We were in there for one hundred twenty hours, zero minutes and six seconds exactly." said Jo, holding out the wrist with her watch on it for me to see.

It was a kids watch, I realised. The plastic kind that seemed to be held together by cleartape. The number on it was backlit.

"I told myself if I couldn't get out of there by 123:45:67.8 I'd just give up." she said, turning back to look out at the lake.

"But when we finally got out of there, I didn't even check- it was like it didn't even matter anymore." she said, shrugging. "Weird, huh?"

"I agree. Almost as weird as the thought of you giving up." said I said, smiliing at her. She smiled back and just like that I knew things would be alright again.

"Ma'am- permission to ask why you don't just get a new one-" I asked, pointing at her watch.

She stopped smiling at me and looked at it.

"Back when I used to train hockey out on the lake by my house- Spence gave it to me...so I'd remember to meet him every morning for practice." said Jo. She fidgeted with the broken band of it for a second and she closed her eyes. That did it. jealousy pounded in my chest for one second- but I controlled it and something else took over me.

I took her hand- the other hand, and held it. Her wrist was pink from the sprain so I was extra careful when I brought it closer. She looked at me questioningly. I looked right back at her and pressed my lips to her palm. She froze for a second and I thought she'd take her hand away, but I was insistent and I felt her relax.

That feeling surged through me again, and even though I could've kissed her again- I wanted..I needed more to give her this- everything else could wait.

_**Jo**_, I thought.

And I inhaled her scent.

* * *

><p>It seemed like the world had turned since they'd first got stuck in that mine- and Cameron would most likely point out that it had- five times to be exact- which would probably earn him some sass from Anne Maria who would probably have missed the point anyways.<p>

Nevertheless they couldn't just shake off the feeling of finally being free- of seeing the light and feeling the wind and knowing they could close their eyes without fear of the dark and the things that waited in it.

But mostly they were hungry.

"What is there to eat, I'm _starvin_ ova here." said Anne Maria, who was laying on one of the benches in the mess hall.

"Is there anything left in the kitchen?" asked Zoey, swinging her legs under the table idly.

The kitchen door swung open and Lightning appeared and hastily tossed a chicken bone into the bin.

"Uh- nope- Lightnin just finished the chicken- I mean checkin...out the place!" said Lightning.

"Oh wait- I think I found something," said Mike, opening up a cupboard behind the counter.

"As long as it ain't from a can, I'll take it." said Anne Maria.

"You want the bad news now or later?" asked Mike, holding up two cans of buttered lima beans.

"Ugh- Whatever, hand it over here." said Anne Maria.

Cameron had taken a double dosage of his immunity pills- he'd already taken a shower and got into his jammies and was running around outside, chasing after bluebottle butterflies-

"that ain't how you do it." said Jo- "you've got to chase em into a crosswind first, then swoop them from the side. Helps to carry two nets."

"Isn't that...cheating?" asked Cameron, he looked warily at Jo who caught three of them in one go, with the hoop of the net against the trunk of a tree.

"Kinda. But I figure you can anyways- it's a fair price for their freedom." and she pulled the net away cleanly so that they fluttered upwards and got lost in the blue of the sky.

"Hey, about earlier I just wanna say I'm-"

"It's okay. You don't have to say anything."

"Cool." said Jo before turning around. "-Hey wait, are you saying I can't apologise? Because I can-"

"I'm not disputing that, I-"

"Cause you can ask anybody- I'm great at apologies...excellent even!" said Jo, up in arms.

"Okay, okay- go ahead." yielded Cameron.

"Uh..." said Jo, looking at the ground and holding one arm with the other, "...I'm, you know...sorry." she said inaudibly. Then she shook her head, took a deep breath and stormed towards him, poking him in the chest.

"I, Jo Baker apologise. I'm sorry, got it?"

"Yes- yes I do" said Cameron nodding quickly.

"Good." said Jo, heading into the mess hall.

* * *

><p>"Okay, so that didn't work out so well." said Chris, pulling Blaineley out off the helicopter, which had landed nose- down in the forest of the far-side of the island.<p>

"I knew I shouldn't have let you drive-" said Blaineley, fixing her dress.

"Yeah right- like you'd have done any better-" started Chris before a shadow fell on both of them. It was ticked-off looking Chef who had just plucked a tranquilizer dart out of his neck.

"Oh, it's just you." said Chris. When he saw Chef grab the helicopter and tip it back on its landing legs.

"Hey, woah- what are you doing?" he asked.

"We gotta get out of here, McLean." said Chef.

"What? Why- it's almost my lunchtime." whined Chris. Chef turned.

"We are on an island full o kids who probably want us dead, a crazy CEO who wants us dead, and a mutant shark-"

"Who wants us dead?" suggested Chris.

"Bingo." said Chef.

"Fiiine." said Chris, getting into the helicopter before adding, "I _never_ get to have any fun."

* * *

><p>After nightfall things got cooler and quieter. Everyone was pretty tired, especially Cameron. It turned out another side-effect of his medicine was a crash, which happened thankfully right when he was reading aloud from one of the many books back in his cabin, with which he'd had an excited reuinion. He had just been talking about the mytho-historical backgrounds of all the constellations he could name when he'd gone out like a light. Falling asleep on a log.<p>

After finding a few hotdogs and surplus of non-glowing marshmallows they all sat around the campfire, roasting their dinner over the crackling fire.

Lightning had retired early, tracking back to his cabin with his roasting stick trailing lazily through the dust. Eventually Jo had gone inside after staying up listening to Brick's stories about bootcamp and saying things like "You think that's tough? Try doing it with one hand tied behind your back-" and "Not bad, not bad at all, soldier." Brick offered to walk her to her cabin.

"You're kidding!" she said skeptically, "Nobody does that anymore, cadet-"

"Why not?" said Brick, shrugging.

"Go ahead." said Jo, "Do what you want." Brick leaned closer so only she could hear.

"Is that an _order_?" he asked.

Zoey, Cameron, Mike and Anne Maria were the last ones at the fire. Anne Maria was flipping through _GLOSS! FAB! WOW!_ magazine and pulling a melted marshmallow off the end of the stick.

"Your hair-" said Zoey, pointing out Anne Maria's 'do that was the same, except for being up in a ponytail.

"Oh yeah, I had to keep it in control back there, things were gettin crazy." said Anne Maria. She yawned.

"Might leave it like that for a while, till I get summore hairspray, anyways." Then she got up, partly because she was tired and partly so that she didn't have to be the one to get more firewood. She picked up Cameron and waved lazily

"Night." she said, leaving Mike and Zoey alone.

"I should go too-"said Zoey, getting up I was losing my chance-

"Wait, Zoey- If you want…I can tell you about…everything." I said.

"Everything?" she asked.

"A-about my...MPD, remember?" I said, suddenly self-conscious. I did what Cameron had instructed. Deep breaths. Keep focus. Take down the walls. (The walls in my head that he said were blocking up the memories, that he said my doctor had only helped fortify by sending me to my happy-place). I looked at Zoey again. She looked like she was ready and suddenly things felt...easier I guess. I was ready.

"I did go to a performing art school but it was just for two months in the summer- and then...I couldn't go back there, Zoey"

"Because you had problems with the other kids?" said Zoey.

"What? Who said that?" I asked. We realized at the same time. Scott.

"I guess it all started that summer," I said.

"The summer I went to the performance school in Piney Peaks. It was supposed to be fun my parents said, and great for my future. But they were wrong. It was bad, really bad, Zoey. And I think it messed up everything that came afterwards..."

Vorzana was the theatre teacher. She was really tall gypsy woman, she didn't have any hair but she had these big gold earrings, that matched her gold pendant. She wore a white shawl and silk gloves that made her look, theatrical I guess. And black eyes.

I was just joking around backstage practicing my magic -when she took me away.

**_You ever think of acting?_**

No

**_You are going to be acting for me, yes._**

What

**_Acting for me. In the summer drama-_**

But I don't like acting.

**_Tell me, have you a problem with your mind?_**

No

**_You aren't an idiot, correct?_**

I didn't know what to say. I must've looked like an idiot just staring.

_**Is there something stopping you from understanding me when I am speaking?** _

I said nothing, but shook my head.

**_You will act for me. I have an eye, a third eye for the arts, and I see that you have the mind for it._**

_She stroked her bald head._

**_It is my duty to harness your mind, to make you a vessel for skill, a possessor of talent- I will pour it into you and concetrate it to its purest form on the stage._**

But- who would I play?

**_You are going to be my Vito. The star of 'Streetfight on the TurnPike'_**

**_You are going to come here every day when the clock chime rings four times for four o' clock- and you will shed this shy exterior before me and show me your inner Vito._**

She looked at me with something like hunger. The other kids sometimes said she peeled off children's skins and ate them, well right now I believed them.

But Randy's playing Vito

_Not anymore. But he will understand, won't he? You will tell him the job has gone to one of higher qualities._

I knew it wasn't true. Randy already didn't like me and wasn't going to be shy about showing it after I told him. Somehow I found myself nodding anyways.

_**My Vito of the tall, tan-skinned and tough.** _

She sneered at me for a moment- I got the strangest feeling that she hated me.

I couldn't do anything about it. I came back every day when the bell rang four times- the bell so lopsided you could just make out the odd clunk of it hitting the wall every other ring, louder and louder the closer you got to the theatre house.

I looked at the poster for the play. And she was right that I looked like him.

But she was wrong and I acted badly, I thought it would make her leave me alone - she kept stopping me and the pianist would falter and then she'd say horrible, but she smiled while she said it., like she'd planned it all. Then I'd have to start over again, again and again and again until one time- the day before the first performance, everyone was going to be there and they would see me screw up.

We'd been practicing the fight scene and my hand had punched the car prop so many times my knuckles were badly hurt

**_This time with feeling._**

Finally I went to the back and was going to the bathroom to wash off when her voiced stopped me.

**_You're not leaving are you?_**

No

**_Your hands- they are bleeding...yes?_**

For a second I thought she'd offer me a bandage or something. Then she said,

**_No, leave them like that. Vito wouldn't wash them- suck the blood out then bite your knuckles, yes like that._**

I did everything she said. It was like I couldn't stop once she'd already said the words. I was terrified of her.

**_Come here, wipe those tears._**

_**Vito wouldn't cry.** _

**_My, you're making a pretty awful mess of this aren't you? _**She asked. But it wasn't like a question.

_**The play, everything.** _

I didn't know what to say. I felt a twisting sense of dread.

_**I do not like when children spoil my work- especially as you are doing it on purpose.** _

I gulped.

**_Theres only one thing that can be done. That you leave now._**

The play?

I asked hopefully.

_**And the school, of course my child.** _

My heart sunk.

**_You didn't think they'd let you back in after quitting out did you? And what a pity for your parents, if you knew how dearly they paid to see you pursue your passion within these walls._**

We turned away from the stage now and I was facing the armoire. I never noticed how strange it looked. Heavy- like it could crush the stage.

_**Would you like to know what's inside?** _

I nodded even though I wasn't sure. She started to speak.

**_Some teachers try to make actors out of children, they say that it's ~easy, that you can use ~fun as a tool. Well you'll find that the tool I use is much more potent, even though it may be a little unpleasant- a tool that takes actors out of children...a sort of extraction._**

_**What do you see when you go to the lake?** _

The question made me uneasy. How did she know how much time I spent there?

**_Stones, everywhere. Pebbles lie- wasting on the shores. Dense, coarse- impervious to water, like this chest- made completely of lake-rock. It's strong- but ugly. Don't you think?_**

I didn't say anything. I wanted to leave.

**_No?_**

**_When a pebble is turned to glass you see why is it that it makes so little brittle glass- it is only the finest parts of the pebbles, concentrated while the rest goes up the smokestack._**

**_When the glass is taken out, it is delicate but flawless- giving the perfect reflection._**

**_I want you to be my pebble. I want you to become my glass. I want you to show me the image of Vito, perfectly reflected._**

**_A masterpiece._**

**_The tool is inside._**

She said, pointing at the armoire.

**_Don't believe me? Go and see for yourself._**

I opened the chest. Why did I open the chest?

It was empty- completely empty but before I could turn around she'd pushed me in and shut the door.

**_I am not going to let you out. You will be transformed. You will be in here until the music ends._**

Liquid started rising out of a grille in the bottom of it, under my feet. It was dark coloured.

_**No, its not water.** _

She said, reading my mind.

**_It's Fresco Lemon Cola. Vito's favourite drink if you remember your script._**

The music started to play and I knew I wasn't getting out. I think she'd put a stereo on top of the armoire. I just remember sitting and rocking back and forth until it started rising faster and I stood shaking. I tried humming to drown out the music but my tune went tuneless and the music drowned it out- it drowned out all my thoughts- except for the thought that I was going to drown.

I tried to lift my head above it but no dice- it was brimming just below my eyes completeley engulfed my nose and mouth and everything beneath. The bubbles popped against my eardrums inscesently like the neverending sound of nameless bugs in the woods at night when you're all alone.

I knew she'd left.

There was no light- no cracks in my airless prison and my eyes swallowed the darkness. I tried and failed to tiptoe and stretch out of the liquid's grasp I crammed my head to the roof of the box- whee the sound was an unbearable agony of sound flooding my ears. I remember seeing etched on the inside of the armoire: **per ardua ad astra**.

Then it was full and my eyes were shut tight because it burned and I knew I was going to die. I was never going to see my mom and dad again- never going to ride my bike back down that hill to home.

I just remember wishing I'd been better- so this wouldn'tve happened to me- and I could be somewhere else, anywhere else- maybe back in my room right now reading the School for Sorcery series.

In my room full of air and my house full of quiet.

Then I felt my lungs give up- and open themselves to a flood of carbonated soda.

And my eyelids parted to the sharp stinginess that was lemony Fresco Cola.

Then the world closed up around me.

I panicked- my heart beat in my chest like it was wringing the last oxygen out of my blood- I needed air bad my lungs were burning- they spasmed weakly like a hiccup and I died.

Like, literally died- well, I thought I did- cause I saw myself from above me- I saw myself suspended in dark fluid- limp, like I was asleep. I felt so peaceful here- and I floated away, to the rafters. Then I saw her. She stepped back and closed thhye curtain on the stage. Slowly, deliberately. She walked near to the armoire and switched off the stereo, even thought the music wasn't playing. She put her hand to the handle- stroked it, took her hand away again. Considered it a moment then suddenly opened it- there was a clunk and my body collapsed out of it with a flood of liquid, she stepped over to my body and tapped it on the arm a few time I felt a tug on my own arm and I swooped back into it.

Air- I needed air. I coughed and splutteed and my lungs emptied of coke and something redder.

I felt something cold pressing down on my chest when I came to. It was her hands- her horrible hands. I only had a glimpse of them before she put her gloves back on but could tell that something..was wrong with them. She wore them all the time but I guess she didn't want to get them stained.

I opened my eyes and I saw her face above me, smiling. Smiling like she'd just made a fresh batch of waffles and was calling to tell me breakfast was ready.

**_Get up you silly boy. Now you see that wasn't so bad, yes? You were so dramatic for nearly nothing. Perhaps there's some theatre in you after all._ **she said with a shrug.

**_You will be doing very well. I don't see any excuse you could find for telling anyone about this._**

I don't remember going home- I barely remember anything anymore.

The next night I was in the dressing room- people said she'd be worried- but I knew she wasn't- I was her secret weapon. I was so scared, in the bathroom mirror looking at myself wishing I was looking from above again. Wishing I didn't look like this whatever it was about me that had made me her target.

I looked at the little window that led out to the bushed behind the school. I wanted to badly to get out- it felt like I was suffocating again and I wanted to be there, in the infinite air - to lie under the stars like I did when they looked like the future- not like the one on my dressing room door- my dressing room which was my prison. I wanted to go back to that time before this mess.

My eyes started to blur with crying and it only made the stars twinkle brighter. Then I realised what was staring at me in the reflection off the glass pane. It was her.

**_Taking some tiime to reflect? Or are you just trying to run out on me?_**

On the stage I didn't see my parents though I searched for their faces- but the audience was a dark and faceless shadow that morphed and distoted with movements and was hidden by the glae of the white lights. Not like the stars- they were unwavering and they exposed me completely. That was how I felt now with my shirt off in those ripped jeans. The rush of air on my chest suddenly hit me- everything came flooding back to me- the coldness of her hand on me- the coe moving up my spine so steadily- like her stare and suddenly I was disturbingly aware she was out there, watching me- waiting to take verything away from me- to punish me when i failed- to kill me again.

There was nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. Every move I made was under a microscope and I froze.I left my body again- I sailed up to the ceiling. I was safe I figured- - there, I headed for the window and the way out- for freshness and freedom. There was a rush of wind in my ears and then Vito's song. I felt a tug stop me- like a coil of rope around y throat- suffocating me- pulling me back. No. I wouldnt . I was careening towards the body and the song was louder and I hated it and I had to go and-

Two things happened at once.

I tried to pull away while I was being pulled back. I felt myself tear- there was searing pain and then nothing. somehow I was still watching me but the me I was watching had gotten up, had hit Tony with very real fisticuffs and had started talking in a voice that wasn't mine. The me that was watching- I was relieved because I felt safe- but then it felt like all the energy had been pulled from me and I kinda fell asleep- deeply asleep. There was loud clapping and I woke up to standing ovations and the next thing I knew I was being pat on the back by a man in a suit before he took her out back she was smiling more than ever.

School after that was tough. The other kids thought I was a teacher's pet- that I'd kissed up to her to steal the sta role. Nobody would talk to me. And one day I caved- I told my counselor everything- everything that happened. It sounded riddiculous. I think she'd planned it that way- and you know what she did?

She wrote on my record saying i was disturbed- how i was hurting the other children and making up stories. Then she left, it turned out that guy was a scout and she got a big job in the actor's guild, broadway- I didn't know. I never looked back at that place. I never rode past it on my way to public school. I neve saw her again.

I thought it'd be the last time but afterwards there were other things.

* * *

><p>ZOEY<p>

I stayed up with Mike, and if I was tired I didn't notice. He talked about where his alternates came from. He didn't take his eyes off the fire the whole time, even when it had burned down to a few tiny embers he prodded it with the tip of his roasting twig.

He told me how Chester had shown up when some kids in his middle school had tried to make a shock bomb during the halloween dance- but how they'd botched it and left it in his hands on their way out, running for the exit so they wouldnt get caught.

How he'd tossed it back out of instinct and they'd hot-potatoed it around between them like it was some kind of sick game- how he lost when they finally shoved it in his arms before speeding off- and then how he got shocked- shocked so hard his hands couldnt break contact with the sizzling device. How the frustration and pain had mounted as loud as the obnoxious teenage music in the auditorium until- he was floating again floating asleep. The box stopped sparking and he watched himself angirly toss the shock bomb down the hall after those 'young whipper-snappers with their complicated doohickeys'

He told me how Manitoba had surfaced one day on a juniour park rangers campout on Mount _. How the park ranger told them stories in the dark that night about past park rangers- of fearless conquests of the roughest terrain from the Yukon to the _ then how he'd roped their food to keep it out of the way of bears.

That night a stray ember from the fire drifted onto his tent- and how he had woken up sweaty and panicking as the fire ate everything- how he'd stumbled out through the searing heat and how the park rangers had gathered everyone to safety and how he couldn't breathe inside, the trees all around had turned to smoke and the air was thick with it. The troop leaders had done a head count and gone back for the one missing boy. He heard the pak ranger signal through the smoke but couldnt speak for coughing. He finally held his ranger hat over his face and wandered endlessly through the smoke that hid the rippling tongues of fire that seemed to appear at every turn. That he felt faint and then, floaty. How he'd somehow managed to lasso his way acoss a burning tree up onto the safety of the outpost tower.

Last he told me how he'd gone on a skii trip with his mom and dad- how he sat alone in the lodge room flipping channels on the tiny TV- there was nothing on but Olympic coverage, every other channel was snow, just like the view out the window. How his dad convinced him to go outside, to have some fun- how his mom'd introduced him to two guys his age, how he'd run outside with them hurrying back to thank her.

(making friends was okay for him, but by then he'd learned that keeping them wasn't so easy) how suddenly he'd been eager to hit the slopes as they was- But then how they'd taken him off track- 'a shortcut to the big time slopes' they said. He'd followed them to a gap between two cliffs.

By the time he got there they were already on the other side, and their landings had crumbled ice off the opposite edge.

**C'mon, hurry up 'fore the line's too long**

**Just jump it man, don't be such a girl.**

How he'd looked down into the deep pit below, at the ice that'd freshly landed there, how more crumbled off with each step forwards.

How he saw them walk off anyways

**Whatever, man.**

How he'd been so quick to go after them he took a blind step into mid air. How he grabbed for something, anything- but there was nothing but down.

Until he left himself and just saw himself do a soaring backflip onto the cliff before taking a running leap across the gorge with toes pointed, eyes closed and a high-pitched sing-song 'Ta-daa'

How he'd landed spectacularly and the guys had stared at him before bursting out laughing and running off to the slopes.

He told me how he got his MPD.

* * *

><p>Afterwards he sat there, stirring the embers. Sitting hunched with his head resting on one hand.<p>

"I can understand if you- you know..." he said after a while.

"If I what?" I asked.

"If you don't want a delicate case for a...a boyfriend." he said shrugging sadly.

"Delicate case?" she asked

"It's what my shrink calls it...Zoey, you should be with a guy who can face- I dunno, tigers for you- not a guy who can't even face his memories..."

"But you just did that- just now!" I exclaimed.

"I did?" he asked, blinking at me.

"Yeah- Mike you told me everything and you- you're still you!" I said, pointing him out. "I happen to think that's pretty amazing."

"You do?" he said, perking up a bit.

"I do." I said, sitting closer to him.

"And I did fight off that beastie earlier- so you might say you owe me." he said, sliding his hand next to mine.

"Ah you forget I saved your butt not half an hour later," I said poking him in the side, "so we're even."

"Oh yeah." he said, remembering. "Hey.. but wait- you owe me twelve bucks!"

"What? Oh yeah!" I said thinking about Scott's brunch of disgustingness. I'd forgotten all about that. "Um...I don't actually have any money here..."

"Well...you could find some.._other_ way to pay me back." he said holding my hand and smiling hopefully.

"Hmm, I guess." I said, "Do you take CTM coupons?"

"Ha ha very fun-" I tugged him closer by the hand and kissed him. He smoothed his hand through my hair and tried to zip closer to me on the log but ended up toppling us over onto the side.

I was pressed against him in the cool grass. His skin was warm where he was blushing. I was pulled gently down nearer to him and he kissed me quiet and we just stayed like that for a while, him stroking my hair with one hand and my back with the other, still pulling me to him when we were close as we could get. The sky was open and he was looking up at the stars. The forest made little sounds every now and then but I wasn't afraid. Wrapped in the protective circle of his arms I felt totally okay.

* * *

><p>Mr. Rohke<p>

I dragged myself out of the lake I knew for sure my blackbird hadn't gone far, and those three twits would have to be exterminated before they did anything with that tape. The mine would also have to be sealed off again- thankfully the far-end had been blasted open and no-one had escaped. I did have one question on my mind.

Why hadn't my bomb gone kaboom?

* * *

><p>Zoey: Maybe there's a way out behind this shelf-<p>

Anne Maria: it's just a bunch o stupid cobwebs

Anne Maria: What'd I just trip over?

Mike: Oh, it's me- how long was I out?

Zoey: Well we're still in here.

Cameron: My foot's stuck in something!

Mike: Is that a tin of lasco?

*Lightning yanks him out and empties the tin into his mouth*

Mike: No, wait...I think it was glitter.

Lightning: Sha-nasty!

Brick: Stacking all the boxes to reach the ceiling vent didn't work-

Jo: Then there's only one way to get out of here. I found some matches.

acelaces *opens back door* Hey you guys I forgot I don't wear reading gla- is that my notebook?

*Jo is holding notebook in one hand and lit match in another*

acelaces: Yeefus, if you'd just read the chapter you'd know nobody dies.

Cameron: What a relief.

acelaces: ...yet :D

* * *

><p>The day is done and the waiting is over, they're out of their mine! But is this the last for danger, deceit and...<strong>doom<strong>?

Next time on Total Drama Revenge of the Forevermine-

Will Chris and Blaineley's newest 'contract' become null and void?

Is this the last of the homeschooled homeboy himself (I'm talking, of course, about the self-elected King of the mutant moles)?

Was it Jo's sock to the eye that gave Lightning his newfound clarity?

What has become of our favourite landshark?

Where is Scott- and is this the end to his scheming ways?

What else does Mr. Rohke have up his pinstripped sleeves?

Has Anne Maria given up on Vito or will she get him yet?

Has Mike done away with his MPD or will he still be needing that magic word?

Does Brick wear boxers or is he, you know...more of a briefs man? ;D

Brick: Hey!

All of this and much much more will be answered in the seventh and final chapter of Total Drama Revenge of the ForeverMine!


	7. Part 1: Out of Sight out of Mine

Hey TDROTFM fans! This story's been on hiatus a looooong time, but I haven't forgotten about you, and your really awesome reviews have fired up my miner's-torch and put ink in my pen! Since I think you've waited enough I'm putting up this last,big chapter in parts, so sit tight and read, readers! And expect the next one in the next two moons, and keep being the cool crowd you are!

***totally dramatic overture plays***

So here we are, at the beginning of the end. Friendships were forged, Bro-liances were broken, makeouts were made and terrible truths were  
>told. Though our campers got out of the mine they're still in the dark about the plans of a certain evil man. Little do they know many miles<br>away another plan is being hatched...

* * *

><p>ZOEY<p>

It was early morning. The sound of a bird woke me up, and I sat up to look at it out the window, but it was just another chirping raccoon-  
>thing, so I lay back down. Anne Maria was in the bunk above me.<p>

"You awake?" I asked.

"Well I am _now_," she said with annoyance. She yawned and turned over. After a moment she asked,

"What's up?"

"Um..." I said, thinking it over. "Nevermind, it's stupid anyways."

"Uh-uh, no way are you gettin away with wakin me up for nothin!" said Anne Maria.

I sat up and began.

"I had the weirdest dream..."

"Okay, forget it- I don't wanna know-" she said.

"Anne Maria..."

There w as a sigh from the top bunk.

"Fine." she said, "Knock yourself out."

"I had this dream, I was by the lake...but stead of water it was full of V00M. Mike was swimming around, and I wanted to, you know...go for a  
>swim"<p>

"Oh boy..."

"But then Chris showed up on a pair of jet skis, and he was cracking this big silver whip- also, he had a moustache-"

"Course he did." said Anne Maria. "It'd probably grow out like dat naturally if he gave it a chance."

"What makes you say that?" I said.

"I dunno, ain't evil people always ugly?" she half asked, "It's like...a rule."

"Well," I said, "what about Alejandro?"

There was a pause before she stated,

"Evil people are hot. Then their body starts realisin its evil and bam- from hello to hell no by the time they hit 30."

"I guess that sorta makes sense...like karma?''

''Zactly. Serves em right."

"Aw, but Chris gets away with everything..."

"Yeah, he's probably off somewhere right now eatin cream cheese wantons off o' Hatchet's biceps."

"Ha, what?" I said, giggling, "How'd you even think of that?"

"I been to alotta parties. You see stuff."

"What kind of stuff? Cool stuff?"

"Yep. Like you wouldn't even be able to comp-re-hend it."

"C'mon, cooler than this?" I said, hopping onto one foot and showing off my sock sliding skills across the cabin. It seemed like a good idea  
>but knit socks plus rough wooden planks do not make such a great combination- not like my head and the laundry basket...<p>

"Gee, I don't know. Dat was prrretty cool." she said, rolling her eyes. But she was smiling when she lay back down.

"Like you could do any better." I said, getting up and taking a stray sock off my head.

"Pffft, yeah I could." was her reply. I did my best battle-stance and waited. She didn't move.

"Well...aren't you going to come down here?" I asked, scratching my head.

"Nope." she said and with that she rolled over and pulled the covers up over her silk night top.

Of course she wasn't going to fall for the dare, Anne Maria just wasn't the kind of girl who was up before the sun- and I wasn't the kind of girl  
>who could get back to sleep after getting so hyped up. Plus, I had to tell someone about my dream- what if it meant something? I headed to<br>the showers with my towel and the toothbrush I made out of a toothbrush bracelet (which, I guess was made out of a toothbrush...sorta  
>weird how that worked out, right?)<p>

I was thinking about other stuff I could make out of stuff that was already made out of stuff when I bumped into someone who was headed  
>out of the shower- someone tall and cute who for some reason had showered in his PJs.<p>

"Mike?"

* * *

><p>MIKE<p>

I'd just taken a shower and usually that would make me a little stressed out- see, taking a shower isn't something that's easy when having  
>your shirt off triggers a personality switch. So I was more than a little freaked to run into the super nicest-girl-I-ever-lucked into-meeting<br>right when I looked like guy-who-has-to-keep-his-shirt-on.

"Zoey!" I said, "These aren't the girls showers-"

"I know, they're right over there." she said, pointing out the other cabin, further down the path.

"Oh, I knew that- I was just- I mean..." I pulled my robe around me and tried to change the subject. "uh...you look nice."

"Yeah?" she asked. She touched her hair that was sticking up like she'd crash-landed into a laundry basket or something.

"I thought I kinda looked like a cockatoo.'' she shrugged. She was so cute when she did that.

"A _nice_ cockatoo." I thought out loud. I caught myself girl-gazing and I tried to change the subject again.

"Uh-how come you're up so early?"

"Well...the showers a good place to think...out loud..." she said, "...or sing, sometimes."

"You sing?" I asked.

"Well...sometimes,"she said, drawing a circle in the dirt with her shoe, "...okay alot." she admitted.

"But I don't exactly like an audience, you know?"

I was an expert at not liking audiences.

"I know..." I said- "I mean- not for you- I mean-"

I stepped a bit closer. This was a strategic move so she wouldn't be looking at my clothes. Also I liked standing closer.

"hearing you sing'd be..nice" I managed to say.

She blushed for a moment, then she thought of something.

"Well how bout maybe I sing for you sometime... if you'll do something for me?"

"What is it?" I asked.

"I know you avoid some things because you want to avoid, you know... getting all switched up. But maybe...since you've been working on it-  
>and you finally talked about how- how it happened- maybe if you do one of those.. trigger-things, this time nothing will happen!" she said<br>all at once.

"Maybe..." I said, "but what if nothing happens, Zo? What if it turns out I'm just stuck like this." My hands looked for my pockets, one of  
>them realised my robe had no pockets- the other hand found itself taken by Zoey's. And all of a sudden I got all mixed up and everything<br>went soft around the edges- like in one of those old thriller movies when they want to make everything look hazy so they put vaseline on  
>the lens. This wasn't like that- this was scary,but it was scary cause of how much I liked it.<p>

"Mikey..." she said, stepping closer and looking at me face to face. We were so close all I'd have to do was lean, but she'd sent a shiver up my  
>spine and I was frozen.<p>

"...please?" her lips were parted, like she was waiting for an answer. There was one I wanted to give her and there was the one I knew she  
>wanted.<p>

"Alright." I said. She beamed at me. "What should I do?"

"I think you should take off your shirt." said Zoey quickly.

"Why my shirt?" I asked. "Cause Vito's my strongest alternate?"

"Um...yeah, exactly-" she said. "-that's it exactly." I started taking off my robe.

"I don't know about this..." I said.

"Well...just take off your shirt and we'll see what happens.." said Zoey, she touched the hem and suddenly it didn't seem like such a bad  
>idea. I started pulling it up a little too quickly and a gust of wind made me reconsider.<p>

"But what if-" I said

"Mike, if you're not ready it's no big deal." she said, but she stepped away from me. And I didn't want her away. I took a deep breath.

"I'm ready."

* * *

><p>Meanwhile in the workers cabin at the edge of the pineforest on Boney Island, a certain Chris McLean woke up to the sounds of crude<br>construction.

"Chef, whaat are you doing? It's not even bright out..." said a bleary-eyed Chris, stepping outside.

"I just finished buildin us our ticket back to the island, incognito style..." said Chef with final adjustments to a raft made of tree trunks, tree  
>sap and-<p>

"That's my scarf!" shouted Blaineley, pointing to the red cashmere that was now strapping saplings together.

"That scarf cost more than your job, Hatchet." said Blaineley, advancing on him.

"Not as much as your nosejob." said Chef, with narrowed eyes. At that Blaineley looked like she was ready to pounce- and she was after  
>blood. Chef looked like he was ready for a takedown.<p>

Chris stepped between them. "Hey, hey- can't we all just like, get along you know, chill..." he put one hand on Chef's shoulder and one  
>around Blaineley.<p>

"Is that before or after I claw his eyes out?" asked Blaineley, still not dropping her glare from Chef.

"This lady is testin me, Chris." warned Chef.

"Could ya take it down a notch for a sec?" he asked Blaineley who crossed her arms and turned on her heel. Chef wrenched the air with his  
>fingers and pinched his forehead- Chris gave a time-out gesture and went over to her.<p>

Talking so just Blaineley could hear, he backtracked "I mean you're always hot but..." he brushed some sand off the nape of her neck,

"when you're cool you're like," he chuckled, "super-hot."

She gave an enormous eye roll but turned around to face Chef.

"What do we even need a raft for?" asked Blaineley, "In case you haven't noticed, we've got a helicopter."

"Don't you remember last night? We spent half an hour flying low over the woods and when we got to the cabin the weapons store was  
>already ransacked."<p>

"Oh yeah...the memory's a little blurry..." said Chris.

"Wouldn't have been so blurry if you weren't so busy foggin up the windows..." said Chef under his breath.

A flustered Chris ordered him to 'Just get on with it already!'

"So we've got a crazy CEO on the loose, who's got a hold of all our weapons and it probably tryin to wipe us out- if last night was anythin to  
>go by. C'mon. Let's do this." he said, pushing the wooden craft out and untying the tether.<p>

"We're doing this now? I haven't even shaved-"

"Dont ya get it? This is a hostile takeover, man- this guy wants to steal our show, maybe even our island!"

"Wait wait wait- slow down, dude-" said Chris, waving his hands down. "..who said he was trying to take the island?"

"Why else'd he want to push you off a moving copter?" exclaimed Chef.

"More screentime." stated Chris and Blaineley.

"Alright." said Chris, balling his fist into his hand. "He can screw with those losers all he wants- but there's no way this guy messes with my-uh" he glanced at Blainely and Chef rolled his eyes "-_our _show and gets away with it."

And he stepped onto the raft, with Chef and Blaineley behind.

* * *

><p>JO<p>

Sunlight filtered in between the treetops and filled the cabin. For a second it surprised me, I'd gotten so used to waking up in the dark. It felt  
>good to do my excercises that day, cause for the first time in ages I was alive, stead of feeling like it could be my last. Thought I'd run into<br>Brickhouse on my morning run, but he wasn't there. Then just when I turned a sharp left around the forest path overlooking the shore I  
>knocked into him full speed. So I guess I did run into Brick. Huh.<p>

"Morning Ma'am." he said, sunny. He smiled and offered to help me up. I got myself up, judging by the state of his ankle I didn't think it  
>needed any extra effort.<p>

"Greetings Cadet." I said, dusting off my hoodie. "Any luck on figuring out how we're getting out of here?"

"Well, the island's pretty far from any inhabited shore..." said Brick. He pulled out a rolled up map and pointed to it. Ah, Brickhouse. You just  
>couldn't match him for preparation. I moved closer like I was looking at the grid bearings, but it was more of an excuse to sling my arm over<br>his shoulder. He stopped and glanced at me and I whipped back around.

"Yeah, I figured..." I said, turning away and looking out at the expanse of the water. I hoped I wasn't red in the face or anything.

"And there aren't any boats around for some reason." said Brick, moving closer again and pointing out the perimeter of the island which used to  
>be littered with canoes and fishing boats.<p>

"What about communications?" I asked. "How are we for phone calls?"

"Chris confiscated everything- so they are probably all being stored at his base- I mean cabin." he corrected himself.

"Damn. But McLean's not exactly modest...so its gotta be a pretty big sleaze-pad, How hard could it be to find?" I asked.

"Well, the forest is pretty big." He said, shrugging. "And there are some confirmed dangers in it. Remember?"

I remembered. On our first day in that pit, we heard what sounded like a fight with McLean and the Chef up against some seriously large  
>creature. Big surprise who lost rounds 1 through 3. Now maybe that thing was out there It couldn't be so big or we'd see it over the trees,<br>right? Or maybe it was sleeping, waiting for us to walk into its trap. In the meantime I stood next to him, looking over the sprawling  
>confused greenness of the woods. Somehow it didn't feel so bad, knowing the Brick had my back on this. Somehow I knew we could face it.<p>

A weird sound came from somewhere deep in the forest.

"Hm." I said.

* * *

><p>BRICK<p>

Jo sure was thinking hard about this whole thing. I had the feeling she didn't have a plan. For some reason all the fear had left me, maybe  
>somewhere down in that cave... I figured we could get breakfast, then we could make a decision while everyone was there. We raced the<br>rest of the way back down to mess hall and the door was closed. Immediately I had the urge to open it for her- 'ladies first' my dad always  
>said. then I remembered that Jo wasn't like other girls...maybe she'd think I was being like that jerk Spence. I already forgot and tried to pick<br>her up earlier- this time I would refrain.

I stopped at the door. So did she.

"Well?" she asked.

"Well what?" I responded.

"Aren't you going to open the door?" she said, smiling slightly at me and leaning against it.

I pushed the door open and blocked it with the heel of my boot.

"There you go, Jo"

She walked in ahead of me and I shut it, staring after her.

BANG

"Ow!" said Lightning, who had charged headfirst into the door from outside.

* * *

><p>CAMERON<p>

"...But then it turned out we were re-doing the seagull canon challenge, only this time all the seagulls had Scott's voice. And they kept saying  
>'...there's no reward except elimination...'"<p>

"So that was the dream?"

"Yep, that's it...what do you think it means?"

"No more marshmallows before bed for you." said Mike pointing at Zoey. She responded by poking him in the rib.

"See how vicious it makes her, Cameron? We've lost Zoey's sanity to the squishy menace."

When the three of them opened the door to the mess hall, Jo and Brick didn't look away from eachother.

"Another staring contest?" asked Zoey, sliding over next to Brick.

"Oh- we weren't-" started Brick.

"-yep." said Jo, pointing at her watch, "been about a minute so far."

"Who's winning?" asked Mike.

"I am." they said at the same time.

"No, _I_ am!" they echoed.

"Oh, it's on." said Jo, leaning forward.

"I must warn you, Ma'am. I've defeated every guy in my troop in eye-to-eye combat; and one inspector!"

"Well _I_ once got into a VIP training studio by staring down the bouncer for five full minutes."

"What- there's no way you could've- darn it, let's go!"

The three of us kept looking from one to the other- trying to see who'd win. Brick and Jo stared at eachother intently, but after the next  
>minute Brick's focus seemed to flicker. He struggled the last ten seconds becoming more and more flustered- but he finally blinked. And Jo<br>jumped up.

"Oh Yeah! This round goes to Jo!" she yelled triumphantly, "Who's the champ?!"

"I request a rematch!" said Brick.

"What's the matter, Brickhouse? I already beat you, once not enough for ya?"

"No, you cheated and you know it."

"Oh yeah? What'd I do?"

"Jo, you_ know_ what you- ! Why do you always have to make everything so _hard_?"

Jo's only response was to arch an eyebrow suggestively.

"That's not what I- you're the one who-...forget it." he said, "You win." he conceded.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" said Jo, cupping a hand to her ear.

"I said you win." said Brick, "But there will be a rematch, Jo and next time I might not fight fair."

They were eyeing each other intensely.

Sometimes I didn't understand (and there aren't a lot of things I don't understand, one of the perks of mental mastery I guess), the way teenagers behave.

* * *

><p>BRICK<p>

Dangit Jo. Always playing dirty. And I would've won too...she was going to blink. She had all the signs- I was going to win. And then I felt it.  
>Jo quietly kicked off her shoe and stroked her toes against my ankle. It wasn't the sore ankle, I bandaged that one up last night from my<br>first aid kit. I was going to offer to do Jo's wrist, you know after yesterday and all... But she just took about five centimeters of the stuff, said  
>something about callisthenics and shut the cabin door. I didn't even get to...<p>

Anyways, she was going lightly at first, you'd think that would make it easier to ignore...no, that just made it worse. I was trying not to let  
>the heat that was sneaking up my neck make me go red. So I couldn't just concentrate with her all- like that, and I couldn't say anything.<br>She kept giving me this look like, "What are you gonna do about it, Captain Clueless?"

All I could do was sit there half of me wanting to stare her into defeat, the other wanting to climb over the table and plant her one heck of a  
>kiss. Of course, it wouldn't be the same without asking her first...not that I needed to- it just felt that much better when I got her O.K. Almost<br>like I was earning her...well, her kissing me. I don't know, I wasn't used to this kind of thing. Obstacle courses and hour-long drills were one  
>thing, Jo was another.<p>

The other reason was the others were around. My dad taught me alot about instinct. That a person's first impulse told a lot about them.

Why was Jo's first instinct to act like we were having a stare-down when we were just, well I thought we were enjoying each others  
>company...<p>

* * *

><p>ANNE MARIA<p>

"Well there goes five minutes o my life I won't be able ta get back." I said, sittin on a bench.

"Actually, it was two minutes and thirteen seconds after you entered." said the little guy. He wasn't even wearin a watch. Probably did some  
>calculus trigs in his head or whatever.<p>

"Nobody asked you, Brainiac." I told him.

"At least I have a brain-" said Camerun, "I can't say the same for-"

Zoey sat between the two of us before that little punk had a chance to talk a slap outta me. She put her hand on my shoulder,

"Hey, A.M, Cameron's just not as used to talky-talk as book talk", then she looked at the kid.

"-and Cam, Anne Maria just isn't much of a morning person." Then she tried to look tough and said.

"Now...gosh dangit, I've got a Chinese finger-trap and I'm not afraid to use it...so...so you two better make up and say you're sorry, or  
>um...yeah!"<p>

Me and the kid stared at eachother. There was no way I was gonna be the one going first, but then he looked like he was thinking of  
>something to say so I went for it."I guess it's not your fault you're such a big prep. You probably don't get alot of club action what with those glasses an all." I explained.<p>

"Well it's not exactly the glasses' fault...the whole bubble-boy thing is more of the causative factor-"

"Anyone show up to the parties inside your bubble?" I said leaning.

"Well, no but-" he started

"Ditch the glasses."

He looked at me confused for bout an hour before he pointed an said,

"Oh, I see. You're making a humorous prod in my direction, aren't you..."

"Give the boy a Nobel medal." sez me.

"Well actually it's the Nobel-"

Zoey looked at him all stern.

"I mean- I suppose you're the opposite of how you usually are since you're out of your element, so...hypothetically..._in_ your element you must be a real  
>pleasure!"<p>

"Thanks" I said, walkin off,

Then I realized and turned around real quick "...Ey, wait a sec-"

* * *

><p>MIKE<p>

"I'm glad they called truce..or..."

she looked at Anne Maria who had yanked Cameron's encyclopedia and was holding it over his head.

"...whatever that is- but now I don't get to use this- and it took half an hour to make." said Zoey holding out the fingertrap for me to see.

"What's it made of?" I asked

"Oh, it's just ribbon done in a double-axis bicolour helix," she said, fishing in her pocket. "I had extra so-"

When she looked up she saw the trap on my index finger.

"Hey, how'd that get there..." I said, wagging it around.

She giggled.

"I have no idea but I hope you can get out of it by yourself" she said, teasing.

"Aw, c'mon Zo, give me a hand."

Just then she came over and then she stuck her own finger into the other end. I gasped and she tried to look all serious but then the smiles  
>broke out and I was all 'you try pulling', and then she was all, 'no you do.' and I kept leaning closer to her over the table, and I hoped what I<br>wanted to happen was about to-

* * *

><p>JO<p>

What the hell were they doing?

"Oh for the love of- It's simple, you don't pull it, you're supposed to push!" I said, pointing my hand at the kiddy contraption.

"Well, yeah...we knew that..." said Mike, then Zoey snuck up on him and kissed him on the cheek, he switched his attention back to her and

"Heh...let me just" and he pushed his finger 'gainst hers so they both came out with a pop.

Man, if you're going to flirt at least do it where no-one has to see. Especially if you're going to get all _cute_ about it.

What the- why was Brick looking at them like that? Was Zoey waving at him? She stopped when she saw me looking.

Brick's mine. He's with me. Full stop. I was going to take his hand to underline that point, but then I remembered there were people around.

* * *

><p>ZOEY<p>

"Is there anything left to eat?" I asked Mike, who was checking around the kitchen.

"I think these are olives..." came Mike's voice from the back room "no wait...nevermind."

"Who the heck'd want olives for breakfast?" said Anne Maria, checking her lipstick in her compact.

"I once saw Chloe de Vanelle in one of the restaurants in my town." I told her,

"And get this, she ordered...olives. Nothing else."

"Just...olives? Just like dat on a plate?"

"That's what I said!"

"That proves it-" she said, shrugging. "Celebs are freakin aliens! Think about it- looks, talent..."

"Plus they live for like...ever...hey,maybe they are!" I said before I remembered my faves. "Ooh- except for indie musicians, right?

"Well I did say looks." said A.M cocking an eyebrow at me.

"Hey!" I said, tossing the fingertap at her, she didn't bother to dodge but it bounced off her pouffe.

"Half the looks may be worth twice the talent. And how can you stand those concerts...so many people." my eyes widened and I zoned out a little about my sortof-secret fear of crowds. I'd already promised Mike I'd go to Comic Con with him though, it was too late to back out now since he was gonna face his own fears.

"We could eat more marshmallows...there's plenty of those-" said Mike.

"I'll be damned if I eat any more of those powder puffs. I need carbs- I just did fourteen K at a full sprint!" bragged Jo.

"-Thirteen." corrected Brick.

"Fourteen." said Jo getting up and staring down at him.

"Thirteen!" said Brick who got up from the bench to meet her stare.

"Four-"

"Okay you ran around a lot- we're all hungry." said Anne Maria. "There just ain't any food in this cheapo joint."

"I suggest we go hunting or fishing" said Brick, raising a hand.

"I vote fishing!" said Mike, "We used to fish all the time in the Junior Park Rangers."

"Lightnin's votin for aquatic protein pockets!" said Lightning, "Sha-Tackle!"

"My first real fishing trip!" said Cameron excitedly.

"Oh man- fishing?" said Jo with a groan. "That's not even a real sport."

"Sha-what now? Lightnin's out!" said Lightning, sitting back down next to Jo, flinging his arm around her.

"Lightnin will just chill out here with his man- uh, _girl_, and swap game time stories!" then for some bizzare reason he took her glare to mean  
>"gimme a noogie, pal'' instead of ''back off or I'll punch your face" which is basically what happened.<p>

"So, are we going?" said Brick, looking especially chipper. "Jo?"

"Yeah why not. I'll probably catch twice as much fish as you bait-sinkers in half the time anyways!"

"There's some meathooks back here we could use for...hooks!" I volunteered.

"Come on, let's go fish us some catch." said Brick to Mike.

"What do you mean, 'us'?" said Anne Maria, laying down on a bench.

* * *

><p>LIGHTNIN<p>

After everybody had gone Lightnin was all alone with Pretty Girl. She was lyin down all still, so Lightnin could see her clear and not blurry.  
>All the girls Lightnin knew were always goin somewhere. They never had time for Lightnin. If they weren't runnin out of the girls locker<br>rooms like they'd seen a ghost (maybe Lightnin looked like a ghost in his white towel) they were runnin off to their study dates an pep  
>rallies an tea parties. Yuck! Girls were crazy! Lightnin figured he might as well take the shot. Lightnin never missed!<p>

Lightnin walked over to where she was lyin down, sat next to her.

"Ey, goalie- I'm nappin over here, why don't ya just go outside and..play or whateva."

"Goalie? Lightnin ain't no goalie! Lightnin's a star player! Sha-Bam! Lightnin has scored more than any guy on any highschool football team  
>in his whole state!"<p>

"Well, not this time." she said. Then Pretty Girl straight up walked out on Lightnin!

"What'd Lightnin say?" said Lightnin to nobody. Sittin in this empty room made Lightnin's head fill with other stuff. Man Lightnin hates  
>thinkin. When was Lightnin gonna be able to call his Dad and tell him not to seal his trophy room? Where'd Traitor Guy go? Were those<br>other dudes gonna eat all o Lightnins fish while he was stuck here?

Lightnin decided to get up and find out.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, on the sunny shores of lake Wawanakwa Chef whispered to Chris conspiratorially.<p>

"Man, you have to drop the chick,she is gonna _end_ you."

"No way, she's not like that." said Chris, putting his feet up over the side of the boat and looking back at Blaineley who stopped puckering in  
>front of her makeup mirror for a moment to blow a kiss in his direction.<p>

" I'm tellin ya...you cant trust her." reiterated Chef, indicating Blaineley, who for a split second was watching them through the mirror before  
>she hastily shut it.<p>

"She's just so scheme-y," said Chris grinning to himself, "God, it's so-"

"I think she tried to mess with your hair." said Chef.

"What?" asked Chris.

"There was something in the shampoo bottle- didn't smell right." he said.

"What were you doing in my bathroom?" asked Chris.

"I was keepin an eye on that Scott kid, he was sneakin around and he smelled terrible- kina like you. Then I found the bottle- and it was  
>empty."<p>

Chris shrugged. "So he used my goop, no big-"

"Thats what I thought- but then I saw him talking to her, and I figured maybe there was a reason she was being so nice to you."

"Are you kidding?" said Chris, "Who needs a reason - I'm Chris McLean. Look, you're obviously on some kind of jealousy thing."

"What the- no I'm not!" said Chef in annoyance. "Look, it was weird that nothing happened to his hair...unless"

"Unless what?" said Chris looking interested for the first time.

"Red."

"Red?" echoed Chris incredulously. What was Chef on about? Then it clicked.

"Red." he repeated. Red like Blaineley and her red carpet obsession and her red pen signature on a certain contract and her red lipstick smear still on his neck. He wiped it off. "As in_ code_ red," said Chris, gritting his teeth, Chef grinned at the host's realization.

"-as in let's get started so we can save _my_ island and _my_ show from _my_ EX-girlfriend."

* * *

><p>Stay tuned for Part Two:<p>

Will a cross Chris craft a plan for redemption? Will six clueless kids turn savvy to the schemes of a certain CEO who may plan to sign them off? Will Mike ever annihilate his alter egos? Scott be killed by a shark or will I end his fragile, ginger life for kix? All will be revealed and much more than all- on the next part of the last chapter of Total. Drama. Revenge of the Forevermine!


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